The King Of Pirates
by lloyd-forever
Summary: For decades, pirates searched for Sanctuary, the kingdom of peace and great power. After a long wait, a great light shone and lit up the night sky, proclaiming it's glory to the world. We are here. We are waiting. PUZZLESHIPPING
1. Prologue: Brothers At War

**A/N's: Well, this is kind of my first full length YGO fanfic. Sorry if it's not amazing or anything. This is almost an analysis of my own writing so you'll be seeing more Author's Notes at the end of the chapters as the story goes along. This is actually something I wrote for an annual writing contest called NaNoWriMo - National Novel Writing Month. The goal? Write 50 000 in one month. And I did it. This story, although it is not yet fully complete, is more than 50 000 words long. So, there will be something new for you guys to read even as I attempt to finish this story! I hope you like it! I haven't really seen many pirate stories...and I've read a lot of puzzleshipping fanfiction. Also, please note, that I'm editing every single chapter before I put them up. There may still be mistakes afterwards though. I try! Anyway....**

**I don't own YGO or any of the characters! Please enjoy!  
**

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Prologue: Brothers at War

Explosions could be heard ringing through the air as army marched in. They carried their weapons with a fierce but dazed look in their eyes. Possible brainwashing? A possibility. The sky was dark and smoke from the burning homes and buildings was beginning to cover up the sky as a strange darkness was overwhelming the kingdom. People ran in fear for their lives and their home. Their only one home. The ones who would be able to fight ran to the palace to warn the royal family of the approaching threat. They began to prepare immediately.

"Take the children and flee. When they are strong enough to stop _him_, then they'll return. For now, this is all that we can do to ensure that we do not lose our Prince of Light," the old king told his daughter and son-in-law. They nodded.

"The princess is running off to fetch our young prince now. She said that he was going to take a nap in the studies for awhile. We'll be leaving in a few moments." The old king sighed. _My poor grandchildren..._

"How the hell did Dartz get in here anyway? Who was watching the gates?" Someone from the crowd of people currently guarding the palace shouted out. Others replied with their two cents and theories.

"I bet it was those stinking pirates again! They've been trying to get in here for centuries in order to gain power!"

"Yeah! I hate those canon launching, thieving bastards! I bet you anything that Dartz wants the power that our Prince of Light carries."

"Well, stand tall men! Don't let them get it!" They rallied together, prepared to face the worst for their beloved royal family.

Meanwhile, the princess ran through the halls searching for her younger brother. He was supposed to be in the studies but he had moved! Again! He was only four but already a hassle to track down. _Little brother, let me find you, please! We have to go! _She ran into her room and found him staring out the window with games scattered across the floor. She gave him a sad look. _So, you noticed something was happening, huh?_ She came up behind him, embracing him in a loving hug. The boy whimpered a little bit.

"Do we have to... leave home?" he asked quietly. The princess nodded, though the prince couldn't see it.

"Yes. But, one day, you'll come back. I promise." The young boy nodded.

"Should I clean up your room first? I know how much you hate when I leave it in a mess."

The princess laughed. "Not today, because you see, little brother, we have to win a game in order to leave. We have to have Mother and Father without taking any detours and we have to find them quickly! Otherwise, they might leave without us." The boy suddenly looked determined.

"Okay! I think we can win, sister, as long as we work together!" The girl nodded and soon enough she and her brother were racing down the halls. (1)

For a while, as they ran down the halls of the palace together, she truly thought that they'd make it back to their parents without any mishaps. She realized that she'd thought that way too soon when dark magic flew towards her and her brother. They both landed side by side on their backs on the floor as Dartz approached them.

"Ah, and what do we have here? The princess and the Prince of Light? Just the people I really wanted to speak to!" The princess greatly disliked the way he spoke, hearing the greedy and lustful tone in it.

"You'll never get the power you're looking for, Dartz!"

The man with green hair smirked. "Oh really? Well, I don't see you stopping me anytime soon, _girl_."

The princess stood and stomped her foot defiantly. "My brother is destined to defeat you!" The man's smirk faded and an evil glint appeared in the yellow eye of his while anger flashed in the other green one. With incredible speed he bent forward and pressed a single finger to the young prince's forehead, just as he was starting to sit up. There was a flash of dark light. The boy's eye's widened for a moment before he fell back onto the floor, unconscious.

"I'd like to see him defeat me now." The princess waved her arms out in front of her as a violet circle with strange symbols circling around it appeared at her feet. It glowed brightly as she used her own power to push the man away. Dartz moved his arms in front of him to block the attack and was thrown backwards into a wall. She gathered her still brother and ran down the halls, hoping to outrun the crazed power hungry tyrant. She managed to reach the throne room where her parents, including her grandfather waited. Her mother ran to her when she noticed the prince's condition.

"What happened?"

"Dartz is already in the palace, Mother. We need to leave now! Otherwise, he'll take him away from us..." Their father nodded.

"It's time to go. Our transportation is ready." Someone made a tsking sound.

"You're not leaving so fast, are you, King?" Dartz appeared once again, but this time, his eyes were alight with amusement. "Your children are quite... interesting." He smirked, glancing at the princess who shuddered away. "Sadly, I need your son. Your Prince of Light, as you call him. He has something... or at least, can do something that I need."

"Go to hell, Dartz!" The current King withdrew his sword. "My son comes with us. He'll never go anywhere with you." The old king held up his hand.

"No. All of you must leave now. I will deal with Dartz." Dartz seemed to laugh at this.

"You, old man? You'll face me in order to let them flee for their lives?" The family ignored this as the Queen hugged her father.

"Good bye, and may we meet again," she told him with tears in her eyes. The old king nodded.

"Yes. Take care of the children. Good luck." The old king and the current King shook hands. Then, they left, prepared to leave their home for who knows how long.

The princess sat her still unconscious brother next to her in the carriage and she sighed. She was supposed to be his guardian. Yet, she had failed her task in protecting her brother from harm. She touched his cheek lightly and sighed. She would have to take better care of him from now on. Their mother looked him over and sighed.

"A memory clearing spell... when he awakens he'll probably have forgotten everything about us and this place. Oh, my poor boy," she cried.

"That might be a good thing. Think about it, he won't have to lie or make anything up all his life. He just won't know. He'll remember later. That spell isn't permanent," the King said as the princess wiped the tears out of her eyes.

"I'm sorry, little brother."

* * *

The boat rocked gently along the waves as the group approached the caves. A group of men armed with spears as well as some children, about the ages of six sat in it. A blond boy and another kid with brown hair, both being around the same age, used paddles to push the small boat along, as their friend, a feisty teen with tri-coloured spiked hair, glared at the approaching cavern. The three of them had planned on coming here on their own but, the elders had caught them and joined them in their mission instead.

"He must be in there. We're not far now," one of the men said quietly. The current captain of the boat sighed.

"Why did that boy run to here? It just doesn't make any sense!" A few others murmured their agreements as Yami rolled his eyes.

_It makes perfect sense..._ Yami couldn't help but think. He knew his brother inside. He knew why he had come here but, he was determined to bring him back.

"We'll have to make this mission quick. The longer we stay here, the more I feel like we shouldn't be here." There was a silent agreement. Yami merely stared silently at their approaching destination. He wasn't leaving here without his brother. There wasn't a single chance in hell. They had gone through too much with each other, their families... There was no way he was going to allow his brother to be ruined by the mind of one psychopath. He especially wasn't going to allow his elder brother to become one.

_ "Oi, Nii-sama! What will you do when pirates attack your boat?" A young, cheery Yami asked his older brother with pride, who was building his first boat. (2)_

_ "Hah! I'll take them out with my sailing skills, that's what!" _

The boat sailed straight into the mysterious caves. Yami knew where they were...what lay within the rocky, moist walls. His paddlers, his friends, knew as well. And neither of them liked the look of the situation one bit. His two friends, a blond named Jounouchi and a brown haired kid named Honda, gave him wary, nervous looks. None of them had a good feeling about this.

_ "Have you ever heard of... Sanctuary, Yami?" _

_ "No, I haven't. What is it, Atem?" _

_ "It's a place...of great power." Yami shivered at the greed and wanting in his elder brother's voice. _

Yami gripped the side of the boat, his knuckles turning white. No. He was leaving with his brother, whether Atem liked it or not! They went a few more miles into the cave, as Honda, lit a lantern so that they could see. They reached a small beach, and proceeded to exit the small boat and continued deeper into the caves. The men looked around curiously, but Yami and his two friends, one on each side, lead the way. They knew the myths best and thus, knew the way to go.

Within the cave was a large temple space. It was made out of a blue-green marble that sparkled from the reflections of the torch fires in there. The group of three: Yami, Honda and Jonouchi, approached the back of the room followed by the elders from their hometown, where a man sat on a throne with his head down. As they approached, Yami tightened his hands into fists, recognizing his brother. A few of the men looked around cautiously. They stopped simply a few meters from him and waited in silence.

At first, nothing happened. Then, slowly, as if possessed by some kind of haunting, vengeful spirit, Atem raised his head and locked eyes with Yami. The two of them stared at each other for the longest while, as strange beasts stalked quietly towards the group, hissing and growling and scratching. The men grew nervous.

"We're surrounded," one of the men whispered to Captain, or the Lead Elder, as they knew of him. He nodded in response, his grey hair seeming grow greyer as each moment passed.

"I know."

"Atem, we're going home," Yami told the man firmly. All of them jumped when he burst out laughing in reply. A few of the men began to grow terribly anxious and worried.

"Me? Go home? Yami, my dear little brother, do you have any idea what I'm gaining here?" Yami's eyes narrowed in suspicion. _Don't tell me... _ Atem stood and gracefully approached his brother. He pulled him closer to him, away from his group, before giving him a pat on the head and leaned closer to his face. "There is a great amount of power to be taken here, young brother. I could easily share some of it with you, if you'd join me and the others." Yami gasped in shock and stepped away. Jou and Honda braced fro a fight, and the men behind them tensed.

"What? Atem, what did you do? Don't tell me that..." His brother withdrew a long sword that had been sitting in a sheath that hung from his waist. He then began to shine it on his shirt, his eyes glowing with corruption. It was strange seeing an nine year old act the way Atem was. Yami felt his eyes brimming with tears. Why was this so complicated? (3)

"You see, dear brother, I have no intention of going home. Not anytime soon anyway. I have my own mission to accomplish."

"Oh, and just what would that be, Atem? What is that's stopping you from coming home with me?" Yami cried, a bit childishly, shaking his fist at his brother.

"One word, Yami. One. _Sanctuary_."

"Sanctuary?" Jonouchi asked, becoming wary of the creatures slowly surrounding them. He nudged Honda who nodded in reply. The men behind them noted their movements and braced for a fight. Atem continued.

"Yes. Sanctuary. A kingdom of peace, but also a place where great power can be found. I want to find it. So far, it's apparently been only legend. But, I believe it exists. And I will find it. I have enough sources to help me pin point it's location. All I need is the key."

"And what is this key?" Yami asked, keeping Atem talking, after the Elder gave him a look that told him to attempt to keep his brother distracted. He was scared. He had only wanted his brother to come back home with him where he belonged. Yet, that man who had come and told his brother strange things... and offered to show him where he could everything he wanted... Why was his brother acting so strangely? The men all drew their weapons, slowly. Atem paused.

"They say if you can find the Prince of Light, who would be the prince to Sanctuary, he can open the door. If he's the key... well, I believe he is. He may be one of the possible keys to entering Sanctuary. Now." Suddenly, Atem snapped his fingers and all the creatures halted in their place. "I'll give you a choice, my dear brother. You know how much I like a _game._" The elder looked angry.

"This is no _game_, Atem! Come back home, and give up on these delusions! Whatever that man told you was not the truth! Look at you! You're radiating evil!" Atem chuckled at the man's words.

"He didn't lie. I've already received many of the things that I wanted," he said as his face darkened as he returned his attention to Yami. "Now, listen. How about we have a little race to Sanctuary? Whoever gets in and manages to reach the great power foretold there, will be declared the winner and they can get any wish they claim. If I win, you'll join me." Yami wiped his eyes, trying to fight off any tears possible, before nodding.

"Alright. If I win, you'll come back home."

"Yami!" Jounouchi shouted, surprised at his friend for agreeing so quickly. Atem chuckled darkly.

"So be it. That's the race then. Don't feel too pressured, dear brother. This race will take much much longer than you think. Now, I hope you can run..."

"ATEM!" Yami cried out in grief, as Atem unleashed the hounds under his control and the battle began. Yami sank to his knees as the tears rolled down his face. _I'll beat you, Atem. I swear it._

_

* * *

_

A bright light soared into the sky, like a beacon of new beginnings and hope. It also foretold a tale of opportunity for some, and dark omens for others. Many saw this strange light, most not having a clue as to what it meant. Most just blinked at the sight, giving it a thought of awe in their minds, and continued on in their daily works. Others, like pirates for example, acknowledged the light for what it was. The Light of Sanctuary. The gate had opened, revealing its existence to the world.

A young girl watched from her castle in the middle of the night, holding her teddy bear close to her. She stared on with tears sparkling in her little eyes. Her friends had gone to find another friend, and she missed them all dearly.

"Jou... Yami.... Atem....come back home."

Two other young sailors, already on the road to becoming pirates watched the light in amazement.

"What the hell is that?" The white haired one asked as the sandy blonde kid smirked.

"Sanctuary's opened up. Looks like someone might have left."

Another man stood at his window. With his silver silky hair lingering gently in the air around him. He looked quite feminine but also had an aura of royalty, even if he wasn't royalty. Some people wondered about him. He could be quite sinister, but no one knew how truly sinister he was. He eyed the strange occurrence of the Light of Sanctuary with lustful curiosity as he lightly twirled the champange in his glass.

"Hmm, so Dartz chased the royal family out of Sanctuary." He stood and walked away from his window with a smile. "It looks like things are starting, now. Ah, destiny calls! How _fabulous_!"

Little did everyone know, their paths, that had all started in different directions, were soon to cross in a clashing, colossal crash that would result in multiple possible outcomes. New friendships would be formed, hearts would be broken, new people would be met, new paths would be formed. Nothing could stop the roller coaster that fate had created for the people at hand. Absolutely nothing at all.

* * *

(1) This tid bit here with the 4 year old prince is a little bit confusing. As the Prince is by the window, and says he they have to leave home, he shows even though he is young, that he can understand a lot about the things happening around him. However, his sister somehow manages to convince him its all a game and he appears to fall for it. This gives birth to the idea that perhaps, the young Prince is merely allowing his sister to think that he is much less able to see things than he really is.

(2) Nii-sama: Respectful name for Elder brother.

(3) As you can see, everyone's kind of young at this point. Yami is six, Atem is nine, Jou and Honda are seven. They might be acting as though they are a bit older. Atem, however, is supposed to seem possessed, while Yami is supposed to seem slightly more childish.

**Well, there's the prologue. I'll probably be updating this one a week. I still need to edit the other chapters. Let me know if you think it's at least interesting! **


	2. Chapter 1: Cruise Ship

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. Really. I don't. **

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Chapter 1: Cruise Ship

BANG! The sounds of canons echoed through the city as the sun shone brightly high up in the sky. No one walking the streets even flinched anymore. The visits of stealthy, sneaking, yet non-thieving pirates had been common for the past few years, especially that of the King of Pirates, Yami. No one knew why he kept visiting but, the guards were always firing at him in hopes of getting rid of him. Not that it ever worked, but they figured that they might as well try anyways. Many of them prayed on those rainy days that perhaps the great King of Pirates would 'slip up' on the wet roofs and ground, but he never did, to their never ending frustration.

Yami dashed through the streets, still looking like an obvious pirate but stuck to the shadows of the alley ways. _Now, where are you my little panda...(1) _He observed the streets and noticed no one but common people walking around in the sunshine. He tsked. He'd have to just run through. Maybe he could grab a snack along the way, or even-

"THERE HE IS! GET HIM!" Guards shouted from the end of the alleyway that he still stood in. Yami sighed and shook his head. They never really knew when to give up. He decided that he'd have some fun with them anyway, just for the time being. It was a decent replacement for a snack, he supposed.

He dashed into the crowd as people moved out of his way casually, as though this sort of thing happened almost every day. The guards aimed at him but rarely attempted to shoot due to the amount of bystanders just wandering around the scene. Yami jumped high into the air, flipped and landed on the sheltering roofs, which acted like trampolines, of the fruit stalls and booths. He jumped from stall to stall, until he finally made it across the entire market place, quickly and efficiently. He landed on the ground, and smirked. None of the common people bothered to give him the attention anymore. He'd been doing this for three years straight. They all got used to it after the first and they even appeared bored of it by the end of the second.

"Well, that was easy." He observed his surroundings. Recognizing where he was, he ducked into one of the alley ways, made a right, a left... jumped the backyard fence...and came face to face with a tall woman who was mostly likely the same age as him.

"Ah!" She shouted in surprised, falling backwards, her long blond hair flying around her face. Yami laughed at her.

"Oh, have I frightened you?" The blond woman just shook her head angrily and stood up.

"Look, mister, what is up with you? Why are you here today?" The pirate smirked.

"Just coming to check on my little panda bear... How is he today? Healthy? Eating alright?" The woman sighed.

"He's fine. Just like yesterday....and yesterday morning...and all the days before that."

Yami nodded. "Ah, that's good. So, when will you keep up your end of our bargain and give him to me? Hmmm?" The woman backed away a little noticing the lustful look in the pirates eyes. (2)

"I-I told you to wait a little while longer. Besides, my parents are busy with a guest-"

"Ah, the perfect time to snatch the adorable little beast away!"

"AND, we're le-leaving for a cruise tomorrow. We won't be back for a week. And I told you, you have to wait until I can get him to not _hate _ pirates. Otherwise, he'll just hate you. You do remember that, right?" Yami faked a yawn.

"Yes, yes. Your entire family is a group of pirate haters, just like everyone _else_ in this damn city. I get it. Can I at least see him? Just once?" (3)

"No. Now, go away, we're packing for our trip." Then, Yami became curious knowing that when he had visited yesterday, they had not been planning on going on any kind of vacation any time soon.

"How the hell did you four get a trip on a cruise so last minute?"

The woman shrugged. "The guest that my parents are talking to right now gave them to us."

"And this so called _guest _would be?"

She shrugged again. "Some guy named Pegasus." Yami seemed to stare at her in shock for a moment. "He offered them to us. Said we needed a break. Why? What's wrong?" Yami grabbed her by the shoulders, startling her.

"Yami, what the hell-"

"Mai, do not get on that boat with Yuugi." Mai looked up at the pirate, fear and worry shining in her lovely purple eyes.

"Uh, what?"

"Pegasus is bad news. Stay away from him. Do not get on that cruise ship. It's some kind of trap." (4) She pushed Yami away from her. She glared him down defiantly.

"Look, relax will you? Everything will be fine. He's given us tickets before and it's been okay so, how will this be any different? Now, get out of here before-"

"Mai, Mother needs you!" An adorable, angelic male voice floated outside as Mai froze. She began to push the, now, awe struck pirate.

"Yami, get out of here! He can't see you yet! LEAVE!" Mai hissed as Yami growled at her.

"Alright, alright. You better keep up your end of the bargain, Mai." He turned his back to her. "No one disobeys the King of the Pirates." And with that, he leapt from the yard and left. A few moments later, Yuugi wandered into the yard where Mai was simply staring angrily at the fence.

"Uh, Mai? Who were you talking to?" She gave her little brother a smile and shook her head.

"No one worth thinking about. Ever. So don't worry about it. Let's go see what Mother wants. Come on, in you go." Yuugi giggled.

"Yes, big sister." Mai smiled in reply. Oh, how she adored her little brother...

* * *

Bakura chucked another bone into the garbage. What a _boring_ day. Nothing out on sea, and nothing of interest out to picket. He sighed. He was so freaking bored. There wasn't even anyone out on sea to pick a fight with. Where the hell was the King of Pirates when you wanted him, eh? But no, lately, he'd been hanging around some stinking town, where some stinky rich smelly people lived. Oh, hurray for Yami. Maybe he finally found a girlfriend and got laid. Bakura spit out some toothpicks. What the hell did he care what Yami did? He just wanted someone to fight for god sakes!

"Bakura, you'll never guess what I just got!" Marik called to him from above and his sickeningly irritating deep, singsong voice.

"What?" he growled back.

"Apparently, Yami found the Prince of Light. It's some strange quiet kid. Should we go nab him? He sounds like he could be... fun! I have a picture here."

"Well, get your butt down here and let me see!" He yelled. Marik merely laughed as Bakura forced himself to get out of his chair. He exited the downstairs cabin and marched angrily up to Marik, yanking the photo out of his grasp. His tired eyes searched the features on the boy in the picture. He had white messy hair similar to his own with a vacant expression on his face. And he looked kind of cute... but also seemed like there was some underlying evil about him. "Whatever. Let's just go take him and open up that stupid gate. I'm sick of this goose chase. Why the hell do we need this kid anyway? Can't we just open the stupid gates ourselves?"

"You haven't forgotten, have you, Bakura? The Prince of Light can open the doors to Sanctuary." Marik smirked. Bakura just shook his head.

"Yeah, yeah. Sanctuary. Hey, is there something interesting we could do before going ahead to kidnap this _key_? I'm sure you're as bored as I am."

"Well, if we head close to town there might be a boat we can attack and pillage." The white haired pirate smirked evilly.

"Good. Let's do that then." He turned to the sailor directing the ship. "Steer towards town! We're going to go looking for some fresh meat." Everyone on the ship pumped the air with their fists before getting to work. The ship that waved the flag of the Dark Pirates turned towards town.

* * *

Yuugi jumped up and down excitedly. He loved being out on the sea, especially on cruise ships! They were so much fun! He could hang out with his sister, eat delicious food that his parents rarely ever made him since they were such fruit and vegetable maniacs. _Well, okay, maybe I'm over exaggerating...sometimes they make good food. Only sometimes._ Yuugi laughed at his own silliness over such a small topic. He was fed and had shelter. What else could a boy his age of 17 ask for? Besides his own boat so that he could sail the world? _Riiight.... like they'll ever get _ME_ a boat..._ Yuugi sighed. Oh well. He did appreciate what he had.

Mai laughed at how happy her brother was. She absolutely adored seeing him happy. He really did deserve to be anyways, especially all the stuff that he had to go through... and will go through. Mai groaned at that thought. She really didn't know what she was going to do about Yami and her brother. A long time ago, she had made a deal with a pirate....the King of Pirates to be exact, Yami. In exchange for her freedom and the life of her brother, who was very ill at the time of their capture, she swore that after he was better and had stayed with his family a little bit more, that her brother would be given to him. She rubbed her forehead. How the hell was that going to work? Yuugi would never leave his parents, or her, unless their lives were threatened. And even then, he'd curse the name of the one who took him away from his family for life. A relationship would never work. She shook her head. _No!_ They were going on a week of vacation! She was going to enjoy her vacation! No thoughts of that stupid, worthless and _irritating beyond all_ HELL of a pirate. However, her dreams, her visions... they all said... She smacked herself and took a deep breath. That felt good. She took Yuugi's hand as they boarded the cruise ship, happily running along. Their parents told them to be careful, as usual. She was happy to be with her family. For now, that was all that mattered. (5)

A little later on, as the cruise ship moved away from the harbor, Mai and Yuugi were in their room playing a game of Duel Monsters. Yuugi was kicking her butt with Dark Magician, as usual, but she had started to get this really terrible feeling in her gut as her exchange with Yami the other day floated around in her mind, like an irritating bug.

"_Mai, do not get on that boat with Yuugi."_

Sheesh, didn't anyone have any bug repellent? (6) She tried to force his voice out her mind as she continued her turn, placing two cards face down and forgetting to place any monsters down to defend herself.

"End Turn...." she muttered, distracted, not really thinking about the game they were playing. The voice wouldn't leave her head, and it ate away at her focus, and her concentration. It triggered the memories of her dreams. Her visions. Dead carcasses being roasted by hungry, vicious flame, a dark laugh, and her brother's frightened expression...

"_Pegasus is bad news. Stay away from him. Do not get on that cruise ship. It's some kind of trap."_

"Mai, are you okay? You sort of just.... lost." Mai's violet eyes snapped into focus and she moaned, noticing her mistake. She hadn't left any monsters to defend her life points and had, thus, lost the duel to her little brother. Again.

"I'm sorry, Yuugi. I'm a little distracted." A curious look sparked in Yuugi's eyes.

"Does it have anything to do with that guy you were talking to in the backyard yesterday? Who is he anyway?" Mai's breath hitched at the reference to Yami. She stared at her sibling, wide-eyed and in shock.

"Y-you.... YOU SAW HIM?!" She all but yelled yet Yuugi looked unfazed, as though he was used to his sister's overreactions. He shook his head.

"No, but I heard a few words. I didn't know you had a pet bear, Mai....how come you never showed me... And how come he hates pirates? I mean, I know we all hate pirates but how do you know that-"

"Yuugi, there's no bear! That's just ridiculous! Why would I have a bear?"

Yuugi pouted. "Oh. Then, what was he talking about then?" Then, he smiled innocently. "Is it his nickname for you, Mai? Is he your new boyfriend?"

Mai shook her head and sighed. "Trust me, he's far from it."

Yuugi pouted adorably again, clearly confused. "Oh, then, who was he? Who were you two talking about?" Mai looked her brother in the eyes and sighed. Maybe, she should give him a couple of details....

"Yuugi, do you remember when you got sick a few years ago and I told you about finding your other half?"

The boy nodded. "Yup. You said that I shouldn't be picky, even if they're a pirate."

She looked away uncomfortably. "Yeah. What if I told you...that there was someone who-"

"Mai, Yuugi, are you-? Ah, there you two are! Supper's ready in the dinner hall! Are you going to come and eat with your father and I?" Their mother asked them cheerfully. The two of them stood up and nodded.

"We'll walk there with you, mother!" Yuugi exclaimed excitedly forgetting that Mai was in the middle of revealing one of her most kept secrets. She sighed before smiling and following her brother down the hall with her brother. Maybe he would wait to hear what she had to say anyway. She stumbled a little going down the hall as her mind filled with images of the dead, but she ignored it. She was going to enjoy her vacation.

Supper passed by quickly for Yuugi, and he had finished eating long before everyone else had. Mai was eating much more slowly than usual, because she had this terrible feeling welling up inside of her, telling her to take Yuugi and get off the boat. Something was telling her, that this time, Yami might've been right. Had they really walked into a trap? But a trap for who? Pegasus didn't know anything about them! What could he want with them? Had their parents done something? No. They never did anything to hurt anyone. What the hell was going on then? Mai picked at her peas, as her parents watched her from the corner of their eyes. They knew something was wrong with her, they just didn't know what.

"Ah, Yuugi, why don't you go explore the ship while the rest of us finish dinner? You can meet us here a little later, alright?" Yuugi nodded at his mother.

"Okay!" He jumped away from the table and took off at a jog, out of the dining room and into the free hall, where he finally got to explore to his heart's content.

He wandered around for awhile and eventually found himself in the working area of the ship, where the sailors steered the boat in the right direction and made sure everything was working properly. He eventually came across a half closed door, but he could hear crying and whimpering from the inside, that was immediately silenced with a _slap_! noise.

Curiosity bit into Yuugi's mind as he walked up to the partially closed door. _No._ He thought to himself as he approached. _I can't. It's none of my business._ Yet, he couldn't help himself. _Curiosity killed the cat, I suppose. But, I'm not a cat._ (7) He placed his ear against the door and listened as he also watched carefully through the crack of the door.

There were two men, one with white hair and another with sandy blond hair. They looked menacing and the air around them just seemed to scream the words: EVIL EVIL EVIL. Yet Yuugi kept watching anyway against his better judgment. They were standing over the sailors, who all had frightened looks on their faces as though the patrons of hell were standing before them. For all Yuugi knew, maybe they were. The white haired man laughed before pulling out a sword and cutting off the heads of a few of the sailors. A few of them, he just simply stabbed, running them through with his sword. They died in their own anguished cries of pain, and fear. Yuugi fell back witnessing a murder at the hands of pirates on the very ship he was on. He forced himself to stand, his hands clamped over his mouth. He had made WAY too much noise falling back. He slowly took a few steps back as he heard the next thing the pirates said.

"I think we have a little eavesdropper, Bakura."

The white haired man grunted and looked towards the door, and through the crack, locking eyes with a very frightened Yuugi. The boy held his breath and ran from the scene, trying to escape the man's wrath. He heard the fast paced feet chasing after him as he forced his body run even faster than he ever thought he could run before. The man caught him sadly, and shoved him against the wall roughly, pressing a blade to his throat. The young boy whimpered in fear, tears rimming his adorable amethyst eyes. This look didn't seem to phase the murderous pirate. His eyes were full of hatred, death, and suspicion. Evil.

"So, what were you doing spying on us, hm? Shouldn't you be with your family in the restaurant? Where everyone ELSE is?"

Yuugi nodded. "I was just ....just wandering around and I..."

"Look kid, if you happen to survive what's about to happen, I'll make sure that we hunt you down and kill you. You won't live much longer after this...so you might as well die tonight. Got that? Now, run to your rich, stinkin' little family."  
He released Yuugi and he ran as fast as his legs could carry him back to the restaurant. Marik came out of the blood filled room and laughed.

"So, you let the brat run?"

Bakura shrugged. "We'll just make sure we kill everyone on this pathetic ship. Pegasus doesn't give a damn what happens to it anyway."

"We sure were lucky to run into him, weren't we?" Anyone who would've heard Marik's statement, would've felt shivers crawling dangerously up their spine.

"Whatever. Let's just take what we can, then get off this god damned ship before we blow it pieces. Let's go."

* * *

He ran down the halls, his heart beating quickly. What was going to happen? If he survived he had said....were pirates going to attack the boat? He suddenly stopped as the cruise ship rocked, the lights blinking on and off. What was going on?  
He continued on, racing to the restaurant. He ran in, dodging the frightened and confused masses of people and ran straight into the arms of his sister, Mai. She looked down at him knowingly. Once the ship had rocked once, she knew that something was about to happen. Her visions hadn't been warning her for nothing.

"Mai, I'm scared." He whispered into her shirt. She patted his head."I know Yuugi. I know. But listen to me, please. This is very important." Yuugi looked up, his eyes brimming with tears. His sister was speaking with an absolute serious tone in her voice. She rarely spoke like that. He glanced at his parents who were busy looking around, wondering what was going on.

"They don't know what's happening...but I do. Yuugi, you have to run." Yuugi was about to object when Mai silenced him with her finger on his lips. "Listen, this is important," she whispered. "I know you won't like this but... you need to go and find the man who carries the golden puzzle pyramid. You trust me, right?" Yuugi nodded, as the tears breached and overflowed, rolling down his cheeks. He needed to tell her though, that he had seen- She leaned closer to his ear. "For once, despite everything our parents and I have told you, find the trustworthy pirates." Yuugi pushed away from her in shock. She nodded once, then turned him and gave him a push as the ship rocked again, the lights flashing on and off, things falling off of tables, people screaming. Through the chaos, he still heard his sister cry out to him. He felt the desperation in her push. "Run, Yuugi! Run!" (8)

Left with no other choice, Yuugi ran. He ran passed the people, around the scared children, the barking dogs that had been left in their carriers. He jumped over the food that had fallen onto the floor, the lights that fell from the ceiling. When he reached the doors to the dining hall, he looked back one final time and locked eyes with his mother, his father and his sister. It was only his sister who had given him one final nod as a canon ball ripped through the hall. The screams of many filled Yuugi's ears but he didn't care about them.

"MAI!" The force of the explosion pushed him back into the wall behind him. He slumped to his knees as an overwhelming grief hit him. _All those people...my family...._ He forced himself to stand, instincts to survive taking over. His sister had to have sensed that coming. There's no way that he would've gotten out of that alive, if it hadn't of been for her. So, he was going to run just like she said to do.

He ran down the hall, trying to find a way to the deck. He had to see if he could reach some kind of life boat from the outside, since it was too risky to stay inside the ship, where everything was collapsing. He knew he had found the outside again when rain hit him hard in the face. However, he surprised to see what else hit him hard. _Heat._

The ship was on fire, probably from the force of the canons colliding with the boat. Yuugi ran around the deck. Where was he going? He had no clue. He was just trying to get away from whatever he could. He didn't really have much room, since there wasn't ever really a lot of room to run on a flaming ship. Why was he still fighting? In the final, desperate moments on his life, he had to try to hang on. He looked over the side of ship where the life boats were supposed to be, and was extremely annoyed to realize that the ship's attackers had completely destroyed them with their cannons. He stood there, feeling helpless. (9) He observed his surroundings and noticed the pirate boat that was launching the canons. He shook with fury. _Pirates!_ Pirates were always ruining his life! He hated pirates! There were the scum of the ocean... the murderers of the worst kind, they -!

_"For once, despite everything our parents and I have told you, find the trustworthy pirates."_

Mai's voice found a way through his anger. It dissipated and he felt strange. Then, the bitterness returned as he watched the pirate ship near, not noticing a different pirate ship coming up behind him, that yielded a pyramid on the flag. He hung his head.

"There are no such things as trustworthy pirates..."he muttered quietly, as he could almost hear someone's laughter, and another canon ripped through the deck of the ship. Yuugi knew he couldn't escape it this time as the force of it pushed him over the edge of the ship. On his way towards the water, in his last moments of consciousness, he locked eyes with a man leading a life boat. Was he imagining it? He must've been. No one would come to save him. Being unable to reach his imaginary saviour, he whispered to the wind, "Sorry, Mai." Then, Yuugi's entire world filled with a great, heartbroken darkness, and he embraced it willingly as the cold ocean water washed over him with incredible force.

* * *

Yami felt downright sick. He clenched his head between his hands, shaking slightly. Yuugi and Mai were in danger, couldn't they see that? The feeling had just gotten worse as the day went on. Finally, he stood up, angered. _I'll teach that Mai a lesson, when I get to that ship and get them out of there. Watch, they'll be knee high in evil, angry pillagers trying to steal their riches. _He made his way to the deck and called out to all his fellow mates.

"Alright, mateys, I want you to find the cruise ship owned by none other than Pegasus J. Crawford, immediately! When it is found, we will sail towards it at full speed! Is that understood?" A collaborative, 'Alright, Captain!' could be heard from the group. Feeling satisfied, Yami leaned against the door to his cabin in deep thought.

He was kind of excited to be able to get his little panda away from the bad guys. Maybe he'd see at that moment that he wasn't such a big bad pirate after all. Then, once the boy had got over his little misconceptions, Yami could finally make him rightfully his, as the boy should be. Lost in his thoughts about Yuugi, he failed to see Jou approach him.

"Hey, Yams.... earth to Yams!" Yami jumped, noticing Jou's presence. He sighed and rubbed his temple.

"Yes, Jounouchi? Can I help you?"

"Well, why the hell are we chasin' after Pegasus' stupid pleasure boat? We don't rob the rich. We know better than that."

Yami nodded. "I know. But there are people on that ship that I believe to be in grave danger, and I have every intention of getting them out of there." An evil look flashed through Jou's eyes.

"Ohh, I see! It must be that girl you've been heading into town to see everyday ever since you let her go. What was her name? Oh yeah, Mai. It's her, isn't?" Yami snorted.

"Yeah. Sure, Jou. Whatever you say." With that, Yami walked away, going around to observe everyone to make sure they were doing their jobs. He came across Malik and Ryou, who were once again having a small tutoring session.

"Hey, Malik, how's he doing?" Yami asked the sandy blond man as he shrugged.

"He's still quiet but not as quiet before. Today, he seems kind of out of it though. He just sort of stands here all day."

Ryou was a white haired boy that they came across a long time ago. He had told them how his family had escaped from some place being taken over by Dartz but they had died the moment they left, leaving him alone and stranded. With this description of himself, the group immediately knew that he was the Prince of Light, the key to opening the doors to Sanctuary. Everyone, except for Yami that is, believed him to be the true Prince of Light, but he sometimes played along with it.

He, somehow, couldn't believe it. Even if he had the memories of the prince of sanctuary, he didn't believe that he was the one they were looking for. Still though, the King of the Pirate's crew continued searching for the gates to Sanctuary, hoping they'd happen to come across someone who could open the gates, should Ryou not be the one they're looking for.

"Maybe he's having some kind of flashback. Leave him be, he'll be alright," Yami told his friend who nodded.

"Captain! We found the ship and it's not looking so good! She's still a good few miles away...and I don't think we're goin' to catch 'er in time." Yami raced up to edge of the boat, looking where the crew man who had spotted it was pointing. The waves began to get rougher as they entered the area of the storm. His heart beat picked up pace in worry. _Yuugi...Mai..._he thought. He swallowed down a lump in his throat and pointed towards the ship that was already being destroyed by canons.

"Straight towards that ship, men! We have innocents to save!"

"YEAH!" The crew shouted as everyone jumped to their stations. Now, the race against time began. _Yuugi, hang on! I'm coming!_

They made it very close to ship in a short amount of time. Yami, Jou, Malik and Honda went down in a life boat to see if there were any survivors floating around. Yami was specifically looking around for Yuugi.

"DUCK!" Joey shouted as another canon hit the ship. Yami gasped as he saw Yuugi plummet over the edge of the boat and into the ocean, but not before locking eyes with him for just a moment. In a moment of desperation, Yami ripped off his hat, his shirt and anything that could hold him down underwater before plunging into the depths.

"Yami, what dah hell are yah doin'?" He didn't care who said what. He wasn't going to let Yuugi drown. _Not now, not ever! He's mine and mine alone! _

* * *

Notes:

(1) - Here is the first mention of Yami's nickname for Yuugi. I don't own this nickname, all credit for the panda bear references (in the context of the nickname) belong to LittleKuriboh who created the Yu-gi-oh! Abridged Series. It kind of just came up in my speed typing and I never bothered to change it. It may seem kind of random for now, as it did feel kind of strange to me when I first typed, it appears to grow on you after a few chapters.

(2) - This is Yami's first intentions towards Yuugi. Lust. But, it isn't really portrayed as complete and total lust. He's not desperately just trying to take the boy away with him. He had been waiting for 3 years (as it had been mentioned in earlier paragraphs before this part) and never during those 3 years did he steal Yuugi away from his home. In fact, as the conversation between Yami and Mai soon reveals, Yuugi had never even seem Yami at all. So, Lust or a physical attraction growing into some kind of true feeling?

(3) - The world that they live in is, of course, a place ruled by those who have money, and those who fight against the rich are the pirates. Not all pirates steal from the rich. Many of them simply go on adventures. But it's the pirates who steal, pillage, and kill who give all pirates a bad name, causing the common people, as well as the high class inhabitants to hate every single one of them, no matter who they were.

(4) - Once again, Yami shows that somewhere inside, he does have some kind of deeper emotion towards not only Yuugi, but Mai as well. He does actually care for them as people.

(5) - Mai reveals her little secret. She had made a deal with a pirate. Her family hates pirates. She shows that she doesn't exactly know how to go about it and may never actually keep true to her end of the bargain. She also mentions her dreams and her visions. Possibly an important point to remember for later on.

(6) - Mai can't stand Yami. She compares him to irritating insects that need bug repellent to remove them.

(7) - Yuugi's strange to write. His character is kind of caught between pure innocence based on ignorance, but then again, based on wisdom. However, that wouldn't make any sense. It's almost as though his own innocence is actually based on wisdom of the world around him, whereas most kinds innocence that many people have been exposed to would've based on ignorance, because "Ignorance is bliss." This, in my mind, has never applied to Yuugi. He seemed far too aware to ignorant.

(8) - Mai now reveals that she knows more than it appears. She forces Yuugi to run, and Yuugi picks up on the fact that she knew what was about to happen. So, now, Mai's mystery. Just exactly, how much did she know from the very beginning and how much of it did she, possibly, just deny?

(9) - I greatly disliked this part here. It's choppy but maybe it came out like that because I tried to put myself in the position of Yuugi. He's trying to survive, without really knowing what he could do to survive. His thoughts are a askew. His entire family just died. I suppose that anything from his point of view, at this point of time, would be choppy.

**I possibly could've mentioned more. But analyzing my own writing is actually really strange. I think nine points are enough. Feel free to criticize, argue, debate, put in your two cents. I'd love to here from you! Review! See you all next week! **


	3. Chapter 2: Comfort

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything.  
**

* * *

Chapter 2: Comfort

_A seven year old Yuugi chased a ten year old Mai through a field of daisies. The sun was setting, and it was just a little after supper time. They had already eaten, of course, and were simply enjoying their free play time outside. Yuugi was it, and was chasing Mai around the field, giggling, laughing and smiling. But, suddenly, Mai stopped. She stopped running and looked down at her shoes with a sad look on her face. Yuugi caught up to her and tapped his sister on the shoulder._

_ "What's wrong, sis?" Mai shook her head and Yuugi walked in front of her so that they could look at each face to face. "Mai?" A tear drop rolled down her face._

_ "Yuugi, do you hate pirates?" The young boy was slightly surprised by the question._

_ "Of course I hate pirates! Pirates are terrible! They're the scum bags of the ocean! Daddy says they smell bad and don't clean themselves. Mother thinks they kidnap children for the fun of seeing families in torment! They're just terrible creatures!" Mai seemed to flinch at his harsh words, making Yuugi feel guilty, but confused. Were these not the words that she herself had said only days ago? Mai took a hold of Yuugi's shoulders. _

_ "H-have you ever thought that maybe.... Ma-maybe there are some pirates that...aren't so bad?" Yuugi was shocked at this prospect. Good pirates? They existed?_

_ "But, you and mother and father all said that pirates only take from others." Mai looked away and sighed._

_ "Yuugi, it's true. Our parents, myself included, can't seem to stand pirates. Ever. In fact, I hate them. They're selfish jerks who just want everything for themselves.... but, we can't let you go on thinking that all pirates are the same. I mean, it's too late for them, and me but you can think for yourself. I'm just trying to say... maybe we're wrong." Yuugi pushed away from Mai. Mother and Father? Wrong? That's impossible! ...isn't it? Mai continued. "Just think, Yuugi. What if one day... you fall in love with someone and they're a pirate. Does them being a pirate change who they are? What if they don't kidnap children, or smell bad and they're as generous as humanly possible. Yet, they're a pirate just because... I don't know. I'm sure there are different kinds of pirates, right?" She asked hopefully as Yuugi looked away, unsure. _

_ "I guess..." Mai wrapped her brother in a hug. _

_ "Just promise me, that you'll give everyone the benefit of a doubt...a chance. One chance. Because you know Yuugi, sometimes, that's all a person needs to prove that they're not as bad as you once thought they were." Yuugi nodded and returned the embrace, wondering what had come over his sister to bring this up. _

_ "Okay."_

There was light in his eyes as he slowly opened them. He felt a cold wetness on his face and when he reached up to rub his eyes, he realized that he'd be crying. He sat up, shaking a little. _Mai..._ Yuugi thought, remembering the canon that had crashed through the dinning hall, taking everyone on the cruise, including his family with it. Everyone he knew was gone, and he'd never see them again. He began sobbing, and brought his knees up to his chest. He heard the sound of a chair being scraped across the floor, as though someone had pushed it to stand up, but he ignored it. He just sat in the bed and cried out his griefs. He felt someone sit on the bed.

"Yuugi, are you-"

In that instant, all Yuugi needed was a little bit of comfort. Any comfort. He knew he wasn't going to get any from his parents or his sister, so all he needed was somebody. Yuugi jumped onto the mysterious figure who had sat on the bed and cried into their shirt, wailing.

"My sister is gone, she's gone...I'm all alone," Yuugi whispered with a shaky voice. His entire body shook as his emotions took over, and the tears just overflowed. He felt comforting, strong arms embrace him.

"It's alright, Yuugi. I'm here," a strong baritone voice soothed. Yuugi liked it. He felt safe in who ever's arms he was in. He snuggled closer to them, trying to keep every part of him warm, and away from the cold grief that he fought and the mourning that threatened to eat him alive from the inside. This person chased away that pain. Chased away the growing darkness in his heart. The voice began to hum and slowly, Yuugi found himself falling into a deep, peaceful slumber. (1)

Yami watched with amazement as Yuugi clung to him and fell asleep. He hummed a random tune he knew, not quite sure himself of which song it was, and allowed Yuugi to sleep in his arms, before carefully putting him back in his bed, and pulled the covers over him to rest. He sighed.

There had not been a single other survivor on that cruise ship. The pleasure boat had simply sank after being torn to shreds by the canon balls launched at it and only Yuugi had been lucky enough to escape. Even so, the boy was only alive since Yami had jumped into the ocean to get him out. He was unconscious when they brought him back to the ship and had only awoken a few moments ago in Yami's room and in Yami's bed. The pirate was sure though, that the boy had not realized where he was, otherwise, he wouldn't have acted like he was so trusting. Yami cringed at the thought of how much Yuugi might still hate pirates but could only hope that he'd learn they weren't so bad and that maybe one day, Yuugi would be like that with him, while being fully aware of who he was with.

True, they were still pirates; however, they were not the normal kind of pirates that steal from random people off of boats and then kill them. In fact, they rarely killed. Yami had his own reasons for being who he was and his crew members followed him for a reason.

Yami sighed, walking over to a window across the room, remembering a time when he, too, had needed someone to comfort him.

"Atem..." Yami muttered with a hint of disgust making its way into his voice.

_Yami sat in the darkest corner of his room, sobbing, trying to hide from his haunting nightmares. Atem crossed the threshold into the darkened room, but knew his brother was there, hiding from his fears. He managed to find him and pulled him into a hug. His younger brother cried into his chest._

_ "Did you dream about mother again?" Atem asked calmly as Yami nodded. "Did they try to get you?" Yami nodded again. Atem sighed and held onto his crying brother._

_ "Don't worry. They won't hurt you. I won't let them." _

Yami sighed. How Atem could ever join with the beasts who had killed their mother in the first place was beyond him. The pirate clenched his hands into fists. _Why Atem? Why?_

Shaking himself from his thoughts, Yami left his cabin to head out onto the deck, making sure his door was closed. He wanted to make sure that Yuugi got enough sleep in order to fully understand the situation the boy was now in. He was hoping to have a peaceful day on the sea today. Sadly, he wasn't going to get his wish.

"Yami! We spotted the Dark Pirate's ship headin' our way at full speed! What are we gonna do?" Jou shouted to him. Yami ground his teeth. _Bakura and Marik AGAIN?_ (2)

"All hands to battle stations! Prepare for the first wave of attack! It seems that they're bored again and didn't seem to get it the last time we kicked their sorry asses back out to sea." All the men on board rushed around, trying to get to their assigned post. Some men ran downstairs where the canons were, while some gathered their swords and waited on deck.

The Dark Pirate's ship was painted completely in black. It had a foggy aura around it, as though it was possessed by evil spirits. It carried the flag of an eye and two crossing swords behind it. It was quite the menacing boat. The ship moved with a great speed, the wind sailing behind it, as fish quickly swerved out of the way in order to escape the boat with their lives. It came up just beside Yami's boat, and Bakura and Marik made their appearance.

"Hello, there great _King_ of the _Pirates!_" Marik called over to him mockingly with a great smirk on his face. Yami withdrew his sword and jumped from his ship to theirs.

"Go to hell, you bastards!" He charged at them as they withdrew their swords and pirate crews from both ships began their skirmish.

* * *

Ryou ran into Yami's cabin, escaping the sudden attack that was now taking place. He knew why they were here, Bakura and Marik that is. They were after him, since everyone knew of his current title of the Prince of Light. He was the prince of Sanctuary and every other pirate they knew were after him, except for Yami, which he found interesting. He would've thought that of all the pirates in the world, that the King of Pirates would've wanted him the most. But, instead, Yami seemed to have an issue with believing his tale, even though he had the memories to prove it, and just went along with it, until they could find the gates to Sanctuary. Besides, what good is a key if there is no lock to use it in?

He leaned against the door and sighed, hoping that no one had seen him come in. It'd be really bad if someone did and then went in to find him. Yami hated it when people went into his room without permission. _He'll probably get annoyed at me for hiding in here to save my life._ Ryou thought grimly before looking up and noticing that someone was sleeping in Yami's bed. Surprised, and also curious, he wandered over to it. Eventually, half way to the strange form sleeping on the mattress, something told him to stop and stay away, but now he felt drawn to the being, and the memories in his mind, sparked and twirled like a dust tornado on a dry day. He reached out to touch the being before it awoke with a startled expression, sharply inhaled its breath and gave a shout of surprise before falling out of the fluffy bed. This snapped Ryou out of his trance he also stumbled back in surprise as the boy fell onto his feet. He almost immediately offered his hand to the now awakened figure lying on the floor with his toes stuck underneath him.

"Terribly sorry 'bout that. My name's Ryou. What's yours?" Yuugi looked up to meet with strange vacant eyes. He shuddered before taking the helping hand and managed to stand up tiredly.

"I'm...Yuugi. Um. Where am I?" he asked quietly.

"You're on the pirate boat that belongs to the King of Pirates. I'd introduce you but he's kind of busy at the moment, fighting another pirate ship. So, we can just hide in here until it's over. Doesn't that sound like fun? Ah....Yuugi?" (3)Ryou made a note about the expression on Yuugi's face. All the color had drained and it looked like he couldn't breathe. "...Yuugi?"

"Did you say...that we're on...a pirate boat? That belongs to …._the_ King of the Pirates?" Yuugi's voice seemed to raise in pitch as he spoke.

Ryou nodded. "That's the one. They're not all that bad. I've been with them for a while. I'm not usually this talkative, but I feel kind of drawn to you." Ryou laughed at this. He couldn't remember the last time he spoke this much to anyone actually. Yuugi looked as though he had started hyperventilating. (4)

"Pirates....I'm on a pirate boat." He slid to the floor, his eyes wide in shock. "What am I going to do? I'm on a boat....a pirate boat....the King of the Pirate's boat. Oh, dear, god." He rubbed his forehead. Then, he suddenly stood up. "Wait, how did I get here? Who saved me?" Ryou raised an eyebrow.

"Yami, the captain of this boat, saved you. You had fallen in the ocean according to the others and Yami had just dived in to save you."

"...The King of Pirates saved me?" Ryou nodded and was about to continue until the door fell over, off of its hinges, and slammed into the floor of the cabin. Both boys jumped a few feet in the air and Yuugi paled even further, seeing Bakura march into the room. Bakura raised his eye brows at Yuugi.

"You! You're supposed to be dead."

"Bakura, hurry up in there! We've got to go!" One of Bakura's crew mates called into the cabin as Bakura sighed and reached for Ryou, grabbing him by his wrist. The boy struggled, and so, Bakura simply punched him in the stomach, knocking him out for the next hour or so. The white haired pirate sent a glare Yuugi's way.

"We'll get you one day, brat." Bakura turned, carrying Ryou over his shoulder as Yuugi stared at his retreating form. Something snapped in Yuugi's mind.

He couldn't let someone else, someone who he was quickly becoming friends with, pirate or not, get hurt. No one else was getting kidnapped or murdered right before him. He just wasn't going to allow it anymore. Taking action, he looked around the room searching for any kind of weapon that he could use to get Ryou back. Finding the perfect one, he snatched it off of the wall and followed Bakura out the door.

Needless to say, it was chaos. There were pirates fighting each other everywhere, some dressed in white, others dressed in black. Yuugi had no idea which side was which. He caught sight of Bakura and raced to him, dodging pirate bodies being flung, pushed, or just other bodies caught up in the excitement of the dangerous, grueling fight. Yuugi didn't want to be apart of that. He only had one goal on his mind. Rescuing Ryou. He readied a bow, and loosed it immediately, missing Bakura by only a few centimeters. The man looked back and glared at Yuugi, his anger rising.

"Why, you scrawny little-" He never got to finish that line as a fast, agile pirate jumped ships again, and nailed Bakura right in stomach with his foot. He gave Yuugi one smirk and wink of his light brown eyes before running off to fight some more of the pirates off. This confused Yuugi but he shook it off, reminding himself to look into that later, as he ran to Ryou, who had fallen out of Bakura's grasp when the pirate kicked him in the stomach.

"Ryou, are you alright?" Yuugi didn't get any response since he was unconscious. He sighed, happy to be getting a pulse. He was about to gather up his new friend and bring him back to the cabin he felt something cold, metallic and sharp on the back of his neck.

"You, brat, aren't going anywhere with our _key._" Yuugi shuddered at the tone of the pirate's voice, referring to Ryou as on object used to gain power. This angered him suddenly, and he didn't want to deal with this situation anymore. He wasn't sure how, but he managed to let go of Ryou and move out reach of Bakura's sword. He pulled out an arrow and readied it into the bow immediately.

"What are you-" Then, Yami came out of nowhere, kicking Bakura in the side with his two feet, pushing the pirate off of the boat and into the sea.

"Part ways with the ship men! Everyone back on board! It's time we ditched these worthless fighters to let them train on their own a bit!" There was some chuckling as men jumped the distance between the ships and back onto their own. Bakura was swearing from the sea below them as the boats steered away from each other.

"I'll get you, _King_ Yami! Just you watch! And, brat! I'll get you first! Just you wait! Your head will be on the most delectable platter and we'll feed you to those self shape weaving wolves! Then, we'll see who's all tough with a pathetic little bow and arrow, won't we?!" The pirate howled another string of curses as the ship moved away from the other. It took a few moments before the Dark Pirate's ship began to fade away, but it eventually did. Ryou moved a little before coming to completely. A boy with sandy blonde hair who, Yuugi recognized, as the one who had kicked Bakura the first time and also looked nearly identical to Marik as Ryou looked almost identical to Bakura.

"Ryou, are you alright?" he asked in rushed manner. Ryou simply smiled.

"I'm fine. It's all thanks to Yuugi, here too." Yuugi flushed with embarrassment as a bunch of pirates all crowded around them.

"Hey, isn't that the kid that Yami saved from the ocean?"

"Yeah, boy, do they ever look similar, huh?"

"It's kind of creepy almost." Yuugi shivered under the murmuring comments and tried to hide his face from view.

"Alright, men, what's so interesting over here?" A booming baritone voice called out, as the circle opened, revealing a man, clearly dressed as a pirate. He looked like the head honcho of the group, seeing as everyone followed his orders. He had crimson eyes and very defined features, such as a bony chin and sharp facial features as well. He was a very stunning man at that. His voice bothered Yuugi, making him feel like he'd heard it so many times before, but for the life of him, he couldn't remember where. He did remember something though. This man had been the one to kick Bakura the second time. Yuugi stared at the King of Pirates, unsure of what to say, as Yami stared back, eyes glancing at the boy's bow and arrow. Yami sighed.

"Well, men, this is Yuugi. As most of you know, I rescued him from that sinking cruise ship those crazies destroyed. For now, he'll travel with us, since his sister had owed me _something_ anyway." Many men nodded in agreement, feeling that it was a fair statement. Yuugi lowered his gaze and glared at his shoes angrily, remembering how the pirates earlier had taken lives on the cruise ship without caring. They had killed his entire family, and were set on killing him too. _Pirates..._ Yuugi thought bitterly. _Always selfish...always caring about themselves._ He was so lost in his thoughts that he nearly jumped with someone put a strong hand on his shoulder.

"So, pal, what's yah name?" It was a tall blonde kid with a goofy smile on his face and pirate hat. Yuugi instantly glared at him, slapping away his hand.

"Just leave me alone," he growled before stomping away from the group, past Yami, and towards the cabin he had been in earlier. Ryou silently stood and followed him as the group stared at their retreating forms. Jou was the first to recover from the boy's words.

"Jeez. What'd I do?"

"Don't worry about it, Jou. He's been raised to hate us. But, he'll get over it. Just give him some time."

Jounouchi shrugged. "Well, whatever. It's not like we haven't been hated before."

Malik nodded in agreement. "You can say that again. So, Yami, where are we off to at the moment?"

Yami looked thoughtful for a moment. He observed the boat until he nodded, coming to a logical and well thought answer.

"Let's head for the Baroness' castle. The boat needs some repairs after meeting those looney bins for the second time this week. We also need to restock on weapons and food." The group of pirates nodded, going to their stations as Yami wandered away muttering, "I didn't know Yuugi knew how to wield a bow and arrow..."

* * *

Yami avoided his own quarters for the rest of the day, leaving Ryou to watch Yuugi. Yuugi hid himself in a corner of the room while Ryou sat next to him. The white haired boy had changed into his nightly white top and black shorts. He had left Yuugi a change of clothes at the foot of Yami's bed, but he had yet to move from his place. He poked the tri-coloured teen.

"Don't you want something to eat, Yuugi?" Yuugi shook his head in reply, eyes still tightly shut, as if he was trying to wish himself off of the boat. Ryou sighed. "You haven't eaten in a while. You are going to make yourself sick if you don't eat, Yuugi." The boy still shook his head and they sat in silence for a little while.

"Where are we going?" Yuugi asked weakly.

"Malik said we're going to the Baroness' castle. She lives on a shore not far from here with a bunch of children from her land. She helps us when our ship is damaged."

"You guys get help from a Baroness? Shouldn't she be helping getting you guys arrested?"

Ryou looked at his shoes. "I know you don't like pirates, Yuugi. I also know..." he bit his lip, but continued in a quieter voice, "I know that your parents told you a lot of things about pirates, including your sister, Mai." Yuugi's eyes snapped open and he stared at Ryou in shock.

"How...do you know that?"

Ryou shrugged. "I know a lot of things about you. I just don't tell people what I know because I know tha-"

The door opened as Yami stepped in and Ryou instantly silenced himself, staring at his shoes. Yuugi looked away as well, not willing to meet any more pirates today. There was some movement of clothing.

"Ryou, go see Malik. He wants to know what you want for dinner. I'll watch him," the pirate said, as he pulled up a chair near the window, across the room from where Yuugi and Ryou sat. The white haired boy visibly flinched when his name was called and stood anyway, nodding in reply. He gave Yuugi one last parting look before quietly leaving the cabin.

An uncomfortable silence filled the cabin, as Yami watched Yuugi from his chair, dressed in his casual white undershirt that went under his normal pirate vest, and he still wore his black dress pants. He patiently tapped his foot on the wood floor, waiting for Yuugi to move, say something, anything. Yet the boy merely stared at the wall next to him, avoiding Yami as much as he could. He barely breathed, as though the pirate's presence made the air too thick for him to handle. He barely moved.

_"Now, why would I let you both go, knowing I could get a nice sum from your parents for the both of you, hmm?" A blonde haired girl stared up at him defiantly. _

_ "I'll make a deal with you. If you let us go, I swear on the power invested in me that I will give you a year's worth of my pay." _

_ Yami frowned. _

_ "Just what kind of power do you have?" The girl was silent and Yami smirked. "Alright. Here's my deal. You tell me what kind of power you wield, and it must be truthful, and I will release you and your brother on one condition."_

_ She eyes narrowed in suspicion. "What condition?"_

_ Yami chuckled. "You'll find out when you tell me just what power you were talking about." The girl visibly looked torn. _

_ "I-I...can't. I can't do that." Yami shrugged and turned his back on her. _

_ "Then, I guess your brother is going to die on this ship then. Good day!" He began to walk away. _

_ "No! Please, wait!" The girl cried, desperation sinking into her voice, but Yami kept walking. He'd deal with it another time._

Yami sighed at the memory. He stopped his foot tapping.

"Yuugi, have you eaten anything yet?" he asked the boy softly. He knew his words had been heard when Yuugi tensed and shook his head slightly. "Do you want something?" The boy shook his head again. "Well, if you say so. Feel free to sleep in the bed. I'm not sleeping till morning." The boy made no movement, and remained in his corner. Yami shrugged and turned himself to his desk which was covered in documents and a map of their current place at sea.

_"You...came back." The girl said quietly, holding her brother's pale body close to her. Yami sighed._

_ "So, he's still alive, I see?" A tear rolled down her cheek. _

_ "I don't know how much longer he has... I have to get him out of here." She locked eyes with him. "Please! You have to let us go! He needs help, or else-" _

_ "My thoughts have not changed. You tell me what power you have, and, on a condition that I will tell you of later, you and your brother may go." She shook her head._

_ "But, I can't-!"_

_ "No excuses!" Yami shouted, frustrated at the girl's defiance. "That is my only offer, girl." She looked away. _

_ "You're not much older than I am, you know." _

_ The pirate raised an eyebrow. "Does it look like I care?" _

Yami shook his head, and focused on his work. He didn't stop for awhile, but was forced to when Malik brought him food later on in the night. Yuugi still hadn't moved, and it looked as though he had even fallen asleep where he sat. He looked exhausted and seemed a bit more pale than he did earlier that day.

"So, has he said anything to you yet?" Malik asked as he placed the food on a stool near Yami's desk. The pirate shook his head feeling frustrated.

"Not a word. In fact, he hasn't moved since I came in here."

"He's not looking so good. Does he really hate us enough to starve himself and make himself ill?"

Yami shrugged. "I don't know. He was raised to hate us. Even his sister encouraged it for awhile. She hated us quite a bit."

Malik moved closer to Yami, and lowered his voice. "How do you know him anyway?"

"It's a long story. But, he will be staying with us for a while, seeing as his sister was in debt to me. She was supposed to give him to me sometime soon due to an agreement that we made a few years ago." Malik smirked.

"Oh, is that so? Well, I guess things just work out right sometimes after all. I'm off to bed. I'll see you in the morning." Yami gave him a single wave as the man left his cabin. He glanced at Yuugi and tried to fight off the thoughts in his head. He'd already waited _three_ years. Why did he have to continue while the boy was literally in the same room as him? His eyes darkened as he pushed his chair away, and stalked quietly towards the boy. The boy began to shake more with every step closer that Yami took. Yami stopped right in front of him, and kneeled until he and Yuugi were eye to eye.

Yuugi held his breath, hating how close Yami was to his face. He feared the man's eyes, looks, and his touch. He pressed himself against the wall trying to keep himself away from him. He feared the look of...something, in Yami's eyes. It disturbed him, and he was quite relieved when the pirate blinked and it faded away as he sighed.

He placed a hand on Yuugi's shoulder and frowned with the boy tensed in his sleep. He gently shook him.

"Yuugi, you need to eat something, you look like crap." Yuugi looked terribly pale and Yami was starting to feel a little bit of worry bubbling up inside of him. "Yuugi."

Suddenly, Yuugi decided that he'd held back for too long. He shouted out in panic and pressed himself against the wall in an attempt to get away from the pirate. Yami pulled his hand away and shook his head.

"Will you relax? I'm not going to eat you. However, I do want you to eat something." Yami retrieved his plate of food and offered some to Yuugi, who simply shook his head and returned to stare at the wall. All of his movements seemed slow though. It was like his energy had been drained. "Yuugi, you _will_ eat something." The boy shook his head. Yami became frustrated, putting the food a safe distance away from the two of them. He grabbed Yuugi's hand, who tried to pull it back, and pulled him up onto his feet. The boy could hardly stand. He continued to shake his head.

"Just leave me alone, pirate. I don't want... anything of yours." Being exhausted, hungry, and irritated as he already was, Yami gave up, pushing Yuugi to the floor. Yuugi looked up fearfully, as his eyes locked with a harsh and cold crimson pair. The man was still wearing his sword on his belt, and he withdrew it, cutting a curved line in front of Yuugi's corner.

"Do not cross this line, or else face the consequences," the pirate told him and Yuugi nodded. He breathed a sigh of relief and proceeded to sob quietly on the floor within his confined space when Yami returned to his desk. Eventually, he fell asleep, as the pain of his hunger continued on throughout the night.

* * *

A beautiful messenger owl flew through the star-lit night sky. He was tired from his long flight from the caves of the beasts, but he was nearly home. He couldn't wait to get there. He suddenly noticed it in his eye sights and gave a hoot for joy. _Finally!_ He was home again! And he could deliver the message that was tied to his foot. He flew through an open window and landed on his perch. He ruffled his feathers and rang his bell, alerting the Baroness to his presence. A young woman with a shoulder-length brown hair came into the room and gave him a light rub on the head.

"Oh, you're so cute, Puffy." She eyed the name on the owl's leg. "But, Seto and Mokuba are missing so...how?" Her eyes narrowed at the letter attached to the white owl's leg. "What...is this?" She gently removed it from the owl's leg, and unrolled it. "This is...from... Mokuba?! Oh my, I hope Yami is coming here someday soon, this is extremely important...no. I shouldn't wait." She rolled up the letter and walked briskly down the hall. She needed to write an important message.

* * *

Notes:

(1) - Yuugi experiences the first wave of grief after losing his entire family. Without even giving a single glance to his surroundings, he reaches for comfort from anyone nearby. Yami just happened to be there.

(2) - As Yami has pointed out, he's had multiple run in's with Bakura and Marik before. You could say that they're kind of like rivals at sea.

(3) - Ryou is sometimes an odd character, especially in this kind of situation. He's extremely quiet, speaking to only a few chosen people, and when he does speak to them, he's almost always optimistic even though he looks like he's always sad about something. He also acts like he knows more than he's willing to ever tell you. He kind of waits for you to figure it out.

(4) - As Yuugi was growing up, it was pretty much beat into him the fact that Pirates were evil. They'd be the bad guys in all of those myths and legends who ate your babies or kidnapped your children in the middle of night if they'd been bad.

**Not as many things to note this time, I think. Sorry for the late chapter. I was busy writing a 40 page Chemistry lab. But it's Christmas holidays! Expect another update before Christmas. :) Please Review and Happy Writing~! **


	4. Chapter 3: Initial Hatred

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything.  
**

* * *

Chapter 3: Initial Hatred

The trumpet sounded at first light, reminding all those on board that it was time to awaken. Yami, irritated by the lack of sleep slammed down the documents he was reading and grumbled about something. Yuugi slowly opened his eyes and found that he was too weak to move. However, remembering Yami's words from the night before, he quickly shut his eyes, once again trying to wish he was somewhere else. His sister's words invaded his mind.

_"For once, despite everything our parents and I have told you, find the trustworthy pirates."_

He sobbed silently as his eyes brimmed with tears in memory of his treasured sister. Being so deep in denial, he shook his head as fiercely as he could. There was no such thing as trustworthy pirates. No such thing. They didn't exist. All pirates were evil, selfish beings that deserved to rot at the bottom of the sea be eaten alive by sharks. He shook with grief, and in pain. He didn't want to be here with pirates. He really...

_"That's the one. They're not all that bad. I've been with them for a while. I'm not usually this talkative, but I feel kind of drawn to you."_

Yuugi instantly felt guilty as the memory of when he first met Ryou the other day popped into his mind. Ryou...didn't seem like a pirate. Yet, he was on a pirate boat with pirates. Hell, he was on the boat of the King of Pirates! Didn't that make him a pirate too? Despite these obvious details, Yuugi had taken a liking to Ryou the moment he gave him the chance. (1)

Lost in his thoughts, he barely acknowledged the man when Yami stormed out of the room after glancing at him. He simply continued thinking until his surroundings around him faded into nothingness

* * *

Yami marched around the deck making sure that everything was in order. He was in a hurry to ensure that they would be heading in the right direction properly so that he could take a nap for the rest of the day. After working all night and dealing with Yuugi, who still had yet to move from his place, to Yami's frustration, he didn't think he'd be able to deal with anymore until he took a good long rest. When he was happy with the hands at deck, he went down to the other bunks where the rest of the crew was preparing for the day. Finding the one he was looking for, he tapped them on the shoulder. Ryou turned in surprise.

"Good morning," he muttered quietly. Yami nodded in response.

"I need you to look after Yuugi. I fear I might have made him frightened of me. I'll be sleeping in the hammock down here most of the day, so if you need anything let me know. Just, try to get him to eat something." With that, Yami continued down another walkway as Ryou sighed. _Yuugi..._ he thought before deciding that he'd better check on him and see what damage the King of Pirates had done.

When he walked into the captain's cabin, he wasn't sure what he expecting. Signs of a confrontation? A fight? Feathers everywhere and a still, mangled corpse on the floor? No. Not really. But, he didn't expect to see Yuugi lying unconscious in the corner, pale as a ghost and black pits underneath his eyes. He ran to the boy's side and huddled his body close to him.

"Yuugi, please wake up. Yuugi." Ryou slightly shook the boy who groaned and mumbled something that Ryou didn't catch.

The young boy opened his eyes slowly, noticing that his vision was still blurry. He did make out the crazy white hair, and figured that it couldn't be Bakura because he'd be dead already if it was. It was his pirate friend. Someone he had given a chance.

"Ryou..." he mumbled and felt something drip onto his cheeks. Then, his surroundings faded again, and he found himself face to face with Mai.

_"Yuugi, didn't you promise me that you'd give everyone a chance?" _She said as her ghostly form slowly began to move away.

_"Mai, don't go! I...I don't know what to do! Where am I supposed to go?"_ He reached for his sister, who just continued to move farther and farther away. _"Mai!"_

_ "Find the man who carries the golden puzzle pyramid. You trust me, don't you, little brother?"_

_"But, what puzzle? I haven't seen a puzzle!" _Then, his sister's form disappeared.

_"Mai! MAI!"_

"Mai....come back..." Yuugi mumbled as Ryou slowly placed him back on the floor before racing out of the room. He needed to get Malik before it was too late to save him.

Everyone questioned Ryou, simply because, as he would admit, when he first appeared before the group, he was strange. His entire family that he had been killed and he had come from Sanctuary, a place that had only been known as a legend to pirates around the globe until he and his family left, causing a phenomenon that seemed to alert the world to Sanctuary's legendary presence. He was quiet, speaking to only a few and clearly told everyone that he did not think that he would be able to open the doors to Sanctuary even if the legend said only the blood of the people from Sanctuary could open them. Yami instantly figured that his entire tale must be fake and Ryou was astounded when he played along with the idea that he really was the Prince of Light for everyone else's sake. (2)

Ryou knew that even though everyone on the ship were pirates, they still had feelings and they didn't necessarily like being hated. Yuugi had been saved by Yami more than once and had still not even expressed any form of gratitude. Of course, they weren't too excited to help him out, but everyone knew better than to awaken Yami to ask him what he wanted them to do. No one awoke Yami when he taking a nap. No one. Ryou assured them all that Yuugi needed to be saved. He didn't explain why. He just told them that it had to be done.

So, he spent most of his day with Malik trying to bring Yuugi back to the physical world. He retrieved water, fruits from the barrels, as well as wine and such for the day.

"He better appreciate this," Malik had muttered at some point during the day, long after moving Yuugi off of the floor and onto the bed. Ryou smiled.

"I'm sure he will." Malik sighed and looked out the window to see that the sun was setting.

"I'll be back. I'll go and grab us some dinner. Watch him." He left the cabin and began to walk down the pantry when he heard a falcon's cry. He paused, looking at the sky for any sign of a bird, yet didn't see anything. He was about to continue when he heard Honda and Jonouchi's voices and understood. A message had arrived. (3)

"Malik, is Yami awake yet? The Baroness has sent an urgent message!" Honda exclaimed as the sandy blonde healer frowned.

"An urgent message regarding what?"

Jou nudged him closer and hushed him. "It's about Mokuba and Seto Kaiba."

"What about Mokuba and Seto Kaiba?" The three of them jumped as Yami came up behind them, seeming fully awake and alert. He watched them with an intense, serious expression. "What's going on?" Jou handed him the letter.

"This just arrived by falcon. It's from the Baroness. She says that she received a message from Mokuba and that we need to meet with her as soon as possible regarding them." Yami quickly read the letter and nodded.

"Alright. As soon as we get there, we'll discuss this with her. How was everything-"

"Malik! Yuugi's running another fever!" Ryou called out as he ran towards the group, looking fearful. Malik cursed under his breath and ran back to the captain's cabin. Yami looked towards Ryou.

"He's what?" he growled. Ryou shuddered and looked away.

"He's really sick... he's been unconscious all day and Malik's doing everything he can." Yami bit his lip and made a decision.

"All hands to their stations! We are going to reach the Baroness' castle TONIGHT! Do you all hear me?" Yami shouted and a collaborative, 'Yes, Captain!' was heard. Jou watched with interest.

"Yami, just what does this kid mean to you anyway? You never do this for anyone," Jou asked curiously. Yami shook his head.

"Don't worry about it, Jou. Let's just make sure everyone's working."

* * *

_"Yuugi! Come on! Catch me!" Mai called out to his brother who was far behind. _

_ "Mai, slow down! I can't run as fast as you- ah!" He tripped and began to roll down the hill. _

_ "Yuugi, you're so slo-eeek!" Yuugi rolled straight into Mai, causing the both of to tumble down the hill in a heap of... well themselves. They heard a light laughter as their parents watched them from atop the hill. _

_ "Yuugi! You need to watch your step." They all laughed together, painting the perfect picture of the family that they were supposed to be. _

Light flooded Yuugi's vision, awakening him from his dream of his family. He felt tears coming to his eyes again, but he pushed back the sadness. He still felt weak and incredibly hungry, but he found himself amazed to notice that he was not on a boat. He smiled, but mentally did a jump for joy. Did someone rescue him from the pirates? Were they all gone? He wasn't going to have to worry about breaking his promise to his sister? Was it all just a bad dream? Was his family all waiting for him just outside-

He froze as his eyes connected with another crimson pair when he turned his head to look around. Yami was staring down at him while he sit in a chair, cross-legged, right next to his bed. The pirate smirked.

"And good morning to you too, sleepy head. Or maybe I should call you pirate hater. Sleeping pirate hater. Or maybe even unconscious pirate hater.... you were out cold for a long..." Yuugi tuned out the pirates voice before allowing everything to collapse in on him at once.

He had been on a pirate ship. His family was dead. And there was the mother freaking _KING_ of the _PIRATES_ laughing at him next to his bed. Yuugi really didn't understand the man's interest in him. He had nothing to offer, nothing worth stealing. What the hell did he want from him anyway? He was about to ask these prying questions when his stomach growled and he fell back on his bed, in pain and exhaustion. A tray was suddenly placed on his legs. He glanced at Yami who shrugged.

"Eat. You haven't eaten in a long while which why you got sick in the first place." He leaned back against the chair lazily. "I told you so." His attitude aggravated Yuugi to no end but he pushed down his frustrations and ate slowly. He had to be nice today. _Nice._ Just like he had promised his sister to give everyone a chance even if they were a pirate.... He took a deep breath.

Once he had finished eating, Yami took the tray from him and demanded that he sleep. He then left the room, leaving Yuugi to think over constantly in his mind, _prickprickprickprick! That selfish little agonizingly irritating..._ With these irrational angry insults going through his head, Yuugi fell fast asleep, and remained asleep for the remainder of the day. (4)

When he awoke next, he didn't see anyone in his room, but did see another tray of food that had been left for him. He took it from the stool next to him and glared darkly at the note that sat gently atop his breakfast.

_Good morning Panda Bear, _

_ Make sure you eat __**everything**__ on this tray. Feel free to walk around when you're finished._

_ Sincerely, _

_ King Yami_

Yuugi shook his head. Then paused, trying to remember where he'd heard that before. _Panda bear? Where on earth had Yami ever seen a PANDA? _Yuugi was sure he looked nothing like one and decided to take it as another irritating nickname the obnoxious pirate had chosen for him. Suddenly he gasped.

_ "Look, mister, what is up with you? Why are here today?" _

_ "Just coming to check on my little panda bear... How is he today? Healthy? Eating alright?" _

Yuugi dropped the note as if it had burned him as his eyes widened in shock. His sister had been talking to a PIRATE? Mai? Mai said that she hated them! Although, he did always wonder why she had those moments when she would try to convince him that they weren't so bad, then curse them a minute later. But....She had been talking to Yami? About him? But, why? He searched his mind for any clue as to what connection Mai could have to the King of Pirates. She had said to find the man who carries the puzzle... but what puzzle?

_"I know you won't like this but... you need to go and find the man who carries the golden puzzle pyramid."_

Yuugi had to shake his head to clear his thoughts and forced himself to start eating. He'd deal with all of this later when he wasn't freaking out about being near pirates. He ate through most of his breakfast before pushing it aside and lying back down. Why did he hate them so much? He was even starting to feel a bit guilty. Even when Yami had tried to help him by offering him food...all he could do was insult him for being who he was. He sat up again, and swung his legs over the side of the bed, sitting up for the first time in a little while. He finished off his breakfast completely and stretched, standing up.

He observed the room he was in for the first time, surprised to see some paintings of people he didn't know and some tapestry on a wall. He also noted the balcony and proceeded through the doorway into the bright sunlight. His eyes widened in surprise. There were children running around on the shore chasing a puppy and a ball. He observed the building he was in only to discover that he was actually in a castle that was on a beach. He took a deep breath, breathing in the sweet yet sea salty air and couldn't help but instantly relax. He found himself wondering why pirates would bother hanging out in a place like this. One of the kids stopped their game and waved up at him and Yuugi smiled, waving back.

"Big brother, you should come out and play!" One of the kids said as Yuugi giggled. _Big Brother?_ The other kid poked the other.

"Let's go ask Lady Anzu if he can come out to play! We'll come and get you!" The other kid was a young girl. They both waved at him before running off somewhere. Yuugi had no idea what they were talking about, but figured he'd just relax on the balcony. He had a lot of thinking to do anyway.

* * *

The King of Pirates was tense as Baroness Anzu read the letter sent by Mokuba. Seto and Mokuba Kaiba were two brothers that Yami had grown up with a long time ago. When Yami and the others had decided to become pirates, they had gone separate routes, meeting only once, when Seto decided that maybe one day he'd join up with them again. Then, they both disappeared. No one had heard anything of them for over a year or so. Now, they had suddenly received word from Mokuba that they had been captured by Yami's elder brother and were being held captive against their will. The current group discussing this urgent topic consisted of Jounouchi, Honda, Malik, Ryou, Anzu, the Baroness of the castle they were currently in and also an old childhood friend of Yami's, Jou's and Honda's, as well as Atem, before he had left. The rest of his crew were around the castle or on the boat, allowed the free time to relax, restock the ship and repair it. Jou snorted.

"How about we jus' leave 'im there? If he wants to join that animal's greed for power, he can go right ahead," he stated angrily. Yami shook his head and took a deep breath.

"That wouldn't be intelligent. We should not make more unnecessary enemies. We already have the populations of hundreds of towns breathing down our necks, not to mention Bakura, Marik, Pegasus and my brother. We shouldn't be breaking bonds with Seto. I truly believe that Mokuba sent us that letter because my brother is using him as a hostage to keep Seto there." He sighed, rubbing his forehead. "We'll have to go and get them." The Baroness nodded.

"I believe that it would be in the Prince of Light's best interest to remain here while your crew retrieves the Kaiba brothers. The king of those wretched animals would love to have him in his claws. The children will keep him entertained, right Ryou?" Anzu said, flashing Ryou a smile. He simply nodded shyly before looking towards Yami who also nodded.

"I agree. I'll also ask that Yuugi stay here as well."

Anzu looked surprised. "Yuugi? The boy that you brought here with you? Tell me, Yami, who is he? I've never seen him before, even though you both look surprisingly alike. I thought he was a new member of your crew."

Yami chuckled. "No, in fact, his family raised him to hate pirates. He has a few...issues that he's dealing with. I think it'd be best for him to stay here with Ryou, who he appears to be most comfortable with at the moment. I rescued him from a cruise ship that Bakura and Marik were attacking. It also seems that he caught those two murdering people first hand, and they're out to get him. He would be safer here than with us." The baroness nodded again. (5)

"Alright. That's fine with me." She smiled. "The children will be happy to have someone to play with. Also, about the restock of your ship, you'll find a few more-"

"Lady Anzu! Lazy Anzu!" Two children, a girl and a boy ran up to her laughing and giggling excitedly. She grinned at them.

"Can I help you, Jeffery, Elizabeth?" she asked kindly.

"Can we go get big brother to come and play with us? He looks lonely upstairs on his own!" Yami's eyes widened when he realized that they were referring to Yuugi, but he forced himself to stay seated. Anzu looked to Yami for permission.

"Is it alright for Yuugi to get up now or do you intend to keep him bed ridden for the next little while?"

Yami shook his head. "If he'll get up, then he can go. I don't think he'd like staying in bed any longer." The children cheered, running towards the stairs at full speed. Anzu watched after them worriedly.

"Be careful! Don't run up the stairs!" She sighed when she noticed that they hadn't even heard her. "Those children are always in a rush."

Malik chuckled. "You're only young once, Anzu."

She looked away sadly. "I suppose. I guess it's true, especially when everyone else gets the chance to be young in the first place," she whispered quietly. The others didn't ask her what she was referring to. They had no need to.

"You were saying, Anzu, about the restock?" Yami asked gently. Suddenly, the girl brightened up and nodded.

"Ah, yes... the restock."

* * *

Yuugi stood up as he heard laughing from somewhere down the hallway and was surprised when two children ran into his room and each grabbed a hand.

"Come on! Lady Anzu said that we can go play!" _Play?_ Yuugi thought as he was dragged out of his room and down another hallway. The girl smiled at him.

"Yup! It's a nice day outside so, we can go play on the beach! Hey, Jeff! Maybe Ryou will play with us too! How about you go get him?" The boy, Jeffery, nodded before running off in a different direction.

Yuugi allowed the girl, who revealed her name to be Elizabeth, to drag him out down a stairway, and into the bright sunny light. He found himself lost between a part of him that was raised by his family and another part of him that wanted to move on, try something new, go out into the world on an adventure, tie up some loose ends. To Yuugi's surprise, this new side of him didn't hate anybody. They fought each other out, one never gaining any dominance over the other in Yuugi's mind. He didn't know which side to believe, which side to go to.

"Big Brother? Helloo?" Yuugi was vaguely aware of a hand waving in front of his eyes. Still, he could only see and feel the two sides of him fighting each other, each wanting their opinion to be ruled. They wanted their own sense of justice.

"Yuugi? Are you alright?" Yuugi jumped at Ryou's voice, suddenly unaware of how long he had spent muddling around in his thoughts and internal battles.

"Oh, Ryou! I'm okay. I was just … thinking, that's all." There was a concerned gleam in Elizabeth's eye but Jeffery grabbed Ryou and Yuugi's hand and dragged them across the beach.

"Come on! Let's go build sand castles or something!"

The four of them spent the rest of the day outside on the beach. The two energetic children, along with Ryou, helped distract Yuugi from his imminent problems. He avoided thinking about what course he would take next or what he would do about the pirates that had suddenly taken him in. He wasn't sure if they intended on keeping him or tossing him off the boat at some point, so he decided he'd have to figure out something. However, he wasn't going to think about that. They ate lunch together and managed to sneak a snack before supper time. Yuugi found himself exhausted, still suffering from his most recent illness from lack of food, and just sat around with the other three as they ran around him, playing small talking games and playing in the sand.

Eventually, the sun began to set and the day was winding down. Yuugi found himself nodding off sleepily. They were supposed to be called in for dinner anytime now, and he thought that it would be best to try and stay awake so that he could apologize to Yami for being difficult. He figured that if the pirates did indeed decide to keep him – although he wasn't sure why they would even want to – he would do better try to fight his anger against them, and treat them like everyone else. At this thought, the new side of him, the other Yuugi, cheered in victory against the other, who seemed to shrinking, and slowly disappearing. This frightened Yuugi a bit, knowing that who he used to be was slowly changing into someone else. But then he thought, he didn't have any of his memories from before he was 4 years old. Who's to say that the new Yuugi wasn't the Yuugi he was supposed to be anyway?

Elizabeth and Jeffery were quietly building a sand castle and were playing with little toy soldiers. Yuugi noticed that they seemed a little nervous towards the end of the day, as if they wanted to say something, but weren't sure if they should or not. He ignored it, seeing as he'd only spent one day with them. He didn't know anything about their young lives, where they lived, who they lived with, what problems they faced day to day. Eventually, Elizabeth dug her shovel into the sand and left it there.

"Yuugi," she began, using his actual name for the first time since they had met earlier that morning, "Do you … hate pirates?" Yuugi's eyes fluttered open in surprise. He wasn't expecting that question at all. He was so shocked he found himself thinking about his response. Why would she want to know? She was looking away from him, staring down at the shovel. Jeffery had also stopped what he was doing, holding one of his toy soldiers in hand, staring at the scene before him, frozen in movement, and waiting for an answer. He suddenly found himself surrounding in the fight between his two sides. What did he really feel? What did he really think? Did he truly hate pirates? Or was that simply a reaction to what he was told? Did he have a reason? Had there ever been a reason? Perhaps, pirates had killed his family. Perhaps, pirates had terrorized the town he had lived in before with his family. But, had Yami ever done any such thing? Didn't he promise...didn't he swear to give him a chance? He heard Ryou talking about something somewhere in the background, his voice floating over to his ears.

"All we need is something true to believe in. Don't we all?" Yuugi wasn't quite sure what he was talking about or he was talking to but, it sparked something in him, that he didn't really expect to come through so quickly.

"No. I don't... hate them. I was just raised around people who hated them. I guess, it rubbed off on me for awhile, but I'd never really met one, spoke to one even, until recently. I thought I hated them." Yuugi chuckled at his next thought. "I definitely acted like I did. And maybe, sometimes, I will act like I hate them but, I want to give everyone... one chance, at least, to prove me wrong." Elizabeth and Jeffery looked up and made eye contact with him. He was surprised to see tears in the girl's eyes. She wiped them away.

"I'm... happy, at least, you won't hate us? I mean, my father is a pirate. But, he's retired and he lives in the city that Lady Anzu has kindly provided for people like us! No one hates us here! It's a city full of adventurers and old pirates and people who went out to sea long before. No one who lives here is bad or anything. My mother used to be a Duchess somewhere, but she ran away from home because they were so cruel to some pirates there. Did you know, that not a lot of pirates attack other boats? Many of them are just adventurers, out doing some soul searching on sea." She looked away sadly. "We aren't accepted anywhere else. We're the children of pirates. Anywhere we go, people seem to find out somehow. Whether it's the way we dress, walk, or talk, or just by our last name. Anywhere else we go... people _despise_ us."

Jeffery nodded. "I used to live in another town not far from here, until my brother joined a pirate crew. Our entire family suddenly became the lowest of the low. We had to leave and my friends... they all shunned me. It was really strange...how quickly people give up on you."

Elizabeth held out her fist with her pinky upright. "Pinky promise that you won't hate us?" Yuugi wanted to laugh at the scene before. A pinky promise? It seemed so childish, and so immature, yet when he looked deep into the girl's eyes, he could see the immense importance of that one little gesture. A gesture that meant more than an oath in blood. You didn't break a pinky promise. It remained for all of eternity, even when you've passed on. Yuugi smiled and accepted, entwining his pinky with the girl's and a bright grin lit up her face as the promise was made, never to be broken.

"Hey, everyone! It's supper time! After dinner, Jeffery, Elizabeth, you both need to go home! You can play with Yuugi and Ryou another day!" Lady Anzu called out to the four of them. The two children pouted.

"But what if they have to leave early?" Elizabeth called back, fiercely disappointed that her time with her brand new friend was being cut short.

"You know how things work here, Liz. You know better." The child groaned. (6) The four of them headed inside, Yuugi feeling a bit nervous. As time went on, he felt the fierce battle being fought within him, but he knew that one side was winning. This strange, new Yuugi, one that hated no one, was approaching the surface and he seemed guilt ridden for how he had treated the others. As time went on, he felt worse, feeling sicker and anxious. When they arrived in the dining hall, he was surprised to see that it would just be the four of them eating together.

"Lady Anzu, where are Malik and the others?" Ryou asked, as Yuugi silently thanked him for asking what he was afraid to ask.

"They ate earlier since they had many preparations to discuss. They will probably tell you both about them tomorrow. For now, eat up and get a good night's rest. Yuugi, it was Yami's specific instructions that you go to bed and rest as soon as you finish and please don't eat too much. Your body can't handle an overload. Although, I am sure that a day out did help. You're so pale... Anyway, enjoy your food. Remember to head straight home, Jeffery, Elizabeth. I don't want your parents to come running over here again, looking for you."

"Yes, Lady Anzu," the two children responded together in the same annoyed tone of voice.

Later on that night, Yuugi found himself wide awake in bed. He couldn't sleep. He had too much on his mind again. What he wouldn't give for a distraction. He found himself drawing mindlessly in the air, bored. He drew a few sheep and a lama that had a smiley face painted into its fleece. Then, he attempted a fierce dragon but found himself getting lost in the invisible lines, and started over multiple times. He thought that he was nearly finished until he was interrupted by none other than the King of Pirates himself.

"Yuugi, why aren't you sleeping? The moon has been shining high and bright for a while now. It's late... or early I suppose," Yami scolded with a hint of concern hovering over his words. Yuugi froze in surprise and fear. What should he say? Should he just apologize there and then?

"I...I can't sleep. I'm a bit... overwhelmed, I guess," Yuugi admitted, turning his head away from Yami shyly. He wasn't sure how he was supposed to act now. Yami seemed confused.

"Well, this is different. No barking? No yelling? No come backs, or insults? Are you really alright, Yuugi?" the pirate mocked with a smile. The boy frowned.

"No..." He sat up in bed and stared down at the mess of blankets covering his clothed body. Now, the fight brewed again, but this time, the new Yuugi was even stronger than before, the old Yuugi shrinking away into the darkness. "Actually, I wanted to apologize for the way I acted earlier. I was out of line. I'm sorry."

There was a cold, strange silence between the two for a while. Finding himself unable to take it anymore, Yuugi forced himself to look at Yami through the darkness. Noticing that the pale, tired boy was trying to see him, he stepped into the moonlight that sinking in through the balcony. Yuugi's eyes widened a bit, watching as the moonlight bounced off of Yami's form in a delicate, beautiful and mysterious kind of way. Something metallic glinted in the light. It was a pyramid that hung, upside down, on a necklace. There was a strange, disturbing eye one of the sides.

He stared at it in amazement, remembering that his sister had told him to find the man with the golden puzzle pyramid. Was it a puzzle? Yuugi observed further to realize that it was indeed a puzzle. The lines around some of the pieces of the pyramid defined it as such. But why did he need him? What was Yami to Mai? What relationship did his sister have with pirates, even when she constantly spoke badly about them? He did recall, that slowly, his sister had begun to change her opinions on pirates. Had she gone through the same internal battle that he had? Did she ever get the chance to see which side of her won?

Yami slowly took a few steps closer to the bed, his eyes never leaving Yuugi's face. The boy didn't seem to notice, but as soon as he sat up, the moonlight had hit his face, illuminating it in a way so fascinating and wondrous that the pirate found himself being drawn to the boy's presence. He had felt a strange connection before, when they had met long, long ago, during a time when Yuugi hadn't even been conscious. Soon, the two were face to face, though Yuugi was staring at his puzzle in shock. Yami bit his lip. Right... Mai would've said something... He made a last minute decision.

He placed his hand on Yuugi's head, gently and smiled warmly at him, catching his attention quickly.

"Apology accepted. I'm also sorry, for everything that you've been through up to this point in your life." Yuugi felt a little confused. It was a strange thing for him to say, and he wondered what he meant by it. "But, we can talk later. You should rest." Yami pushed the boy back down into bed and gathered up the blankets, straightened them out, and settled them gently over Yuugi. The boy let him, not really sure what else he could do. He couldn't fight it, it was true that he needed to sleep. The puzzle gleamed a little as Yami placed a hand on Yuugi's forehead.

"You'll sleep... just fine for the rest of the night." Yuugi didn't know what happened after that. All he felt was a gentle warmth and peace of mind and he gratefully accepted it and welcomed it with open arms as the mo

* * *

Yuugi awoke late the next day. It truly was a great...awakening, with the sun in his eyes and he felt strangely well rested. However, he realized that it was already past midday and probably after lunch time. There was food next to his bed and another note from Yami. Somehow, he felt nervous again. Anxious. What need was there to be?

_Something's coming._

Somehow, that was all he could think about. Some kind of presence was disturbing him and he wasn't quite sure what to do about it. Instead, he shook it off, and read the note.

_Hello Yuugi, _

_ The main crew and I discussed an important topic with Anzu yesterday and it's been decided that we deal with it immediately. You and Ryou will remain with Anzu until we return. Please, stay safe. We'll be back as soon as we can. Try to get enough sleep at nights. _

_ King Yami_

_PS: Be relieved to know that the crew members also accept your apology. You're welcome. _

Yuugi stared at it in amazement, but also in fear. Yami was leaving. Him and the crew. It was only going to be him and Ryou left with Anzu for who knows how long. He couldn't help but feel strangely upset about the situation. He wanted to be back on the boat, figuring out his new path in life. Then, he shrugged it off. Maybe, there would be something in town he could look at, find something new. Somehow, these thoughts didn't cheer him up one bit. His fear increased, almost to the point where Yuugi wanted to scream. He ate his food silently, and fearfully, his hands shaking with every bite. When he got about half way through he stopped himself.

"Really, this can't be healthy..." He took a deep breath and dragged himself out of bed and over to the balcony. He looked over the railing to see Yami's boat moving out. He watched it go, his fear increasing once again. He took another deep breath. "Alright, relax. What can hurt you out here? Nothing. Ryou and Anzu are here anyway...what's the big deal?" He couldn't understand how one day, he could hate pirates and want to spend every single living minute away from them, then the next want to be in their presence at all times. Was it all because they forgave the old Yuugi for his misdeeds and accepted the new Yuugi? Perhaps. He wasn't quite sure he knew anything about himself at all anymore. He forced himself to calm down, and when he did, he finished off his food and wandered around the castle for awhile.

He met with Ryou and they spent their day talking. There wasn't much to do in the castle. Anzu was busy doing paper work for some of the people in her land. Elizabeth and Jeffery were in school. So, Yuugi and Ryou simply enjoyed each other's company for a little while. Yuugi's fear didn't return until later that night when he had dreams of wolves and shape changing people with cat – like eyes and sharp teeth that rimmed a feral smirk. Blood dripped into his vision and soon he could no longer see...

Two days passed by with no sign of the pirates' return. Ryou and Yuugi found themselves on the beach, just staring out at the sea one calm afternoon.

"Hare," Ryou stated as Yuugi thought of a response in their little game.

"Egg," he replied, finding a word that he wanted.

"Germ."

"Mango."

"Oval."

"Lemon." (7)They continued this until they were bored with themselves again. Yuugi fell backwards onto the sand and sighed.

"When do you think they'll be back, Ryou?" Yuugi asked. Ryou shrugged.

"I don't know. They've never left me behind before. I don't really know why they're doing it now." Yuugi sighed.

"Hey, do you know why they left?"

"Yes. A friend of ours and his little brother are in some trouble. They're off to help them."

"Oh," was all Yuugi could find to say. He felt that there was more to the story than Ryou was telling him but he shrugged it off. "You wouldn't happen to know what the p-" The boy was cut off by a loud splash and growl. He froze in fear.

_It's here._

Ryou suddenly stood in shock and fear. He helped Yuugi up and the two of them turned to their left to see three wolves, one black, another white and the third one, in the middle, light brown. They all had a feral look in their eyes, with their teeth bared and the harsh growls that were spoken through their mouths. For a moment, the brown eyed one, the only one who wasn't growling, looked between the two of them, as if trying to differentiate something about them, before locking eyes with Yuugi and growling.

Yuugi didn't get it but Ryou did, and he did the only thing he could think of. He pulled Yuugi's hand and ran down the beach, the poor boy being dragged along.

"Ryou, what's going on?" Yuugi asked fearfully.

"I don't know, but they want you for some reason! Just keeping running, if we can make it back into the-" He never got to finish his sentence as the white wolf landed on the both of them. Using her weight against them, she knocked them both down into the sand with a single leap. There were louder growls and Yuugi soon found himself separated from Ryou. Somewhere, out of the corner of his eye and through the fur and the claws and the teeth, he saw Anzu running out to them with some of the guards in her castle. He saw her mouth moving. She was saying something. He just couldn't hear anything other than wolves growling around him, pulling at him, dragging him across the beach. Then, he felt the air and something soft, until the daylight faded once again and this time, it wasn't because it was close to night time.

* * *

Yami marched into the hidden temple within the cavern, leading the group that consisted of Jou, Honda and Malik. Their hairs stood on end, as they were already surrounded by the true scum of the world. Many people despised pirates. Yet, little did those people know of the true disgusting creatures that shared their world. Shape shifters. Humans who had given up their human rights for animalistic instincts. Power. Humans who had desired great power. Those who weren't powerful enough became lackeys, using minimal magic and being allowed to gain a decent amount of physical strength. Those who were powerful enough, became king. King of the Shape Shifters. Yami ground his teeth. His brother, Atem, had given up his own life as a human to become one of them. An animal that was greedy for power, surviving on instincts, becoming unpredictable, unreasonable, and dangerous. The shape shifters mainly focused on transforming into wolves, the easiest transformation of any animal they knew. More powerful ones could change into different kinds of birds and sea animals. They were rare though. Atem had sacrificed their only mother for power. Yami shuddered as he approached his brother, who was sitting smugly on his throne. He smirked seeing Yami and his group approach them.

"Nine years, little brother. Nine. It's been a while, hasn't it?" Atem's deep voice had a tinge of something feral and vicious in it. It could've been the visibly sharp teeth that revealed themselves in the man's smirk. Even though Atem was in his human form, his teeth still remained, looking menacing and intimidating. "What brings you to my home? You couldn't be giving up on our little agreement now, could you? Even though I have heard rumors that you found the Prince of-"

"Cut the crap, Atem. You know why I'm here. Where are Mokuba and Seto Kaiba?" The king of the animals frowned.

"The Kaiba brothers? You mean, you really came back just for _them_?" Atem let out a deep laugh. "I'm sure I taught you better than that, little brother. Don't let friends get in the way of your goal. If you do, it'll just slow you down, distract you. Then, you'll make mistakes. Dangerous mistakes even." An evil glint appeared in the man's eye. "Mistakes that could cost you the lives of the very friends you were trying to help." Yami clenched his fists.

"Dammit, Atem, enough of your games!" He withdrew his sword, and pointed it at his brother, clearly challenging him. "Hand them over!" Atem's smirk faded as the wolves in the room began to growl and surround the group of four.

"The day I do what you say, _Yami_, is the day my soul is burnt to ashes in the depths of hell!"

* * *

Notes:

(1) - As it can be seen, Yuugi's clearly confused about the whole pirate issue. In reality, he only 'hates' pirates because he's been told to hate them. He doesn't hate them personally. He doesn't realize that yet though.

(2) - As described, Ryou told everyone that he was from Sanctuary but couldn't open the doors. This wouldn't have made any sense at all due to the fact that _anyone_ from Sanctuary can open them. This, Yami found incredibly suspicious and assumed that Ryou's entire story was fake. But, if Ryou isn't from Sanctuary, then where did he come from?

(3) - I know in the last chapter that it was an owl had delivered the message to the Baroness. However, the Baroness did not use the owl to send a message to Yami. Instead, she sent a falcon.

(4) - Yuugi's in a bit of an emotional disaster. He goes between being in denial of his family's death and actually accepting it. He also goes through the motions of trying to fight off his inbred hate for pirates.

(5) - When I first wrote this, I wasn't quite sure what Bakura and Marik's reasoning for wanting to kill Yuugi would be. It did occur to me though, that even if they were pirates, against the laws and such, they still wouldn't want witnesses. Even if they would probably be sentenced for murder anyway. The less evidence there is, the better for them.

(6) - Anzu refers to the fact that since they live in a town for pirates, it's common for people to come and visit for a few days, and then leave again.

(7) - This is a game called Shiritori. You start with one word, and the next word following must start with the last letter of the previous word.

**A/N's: So, ends another chapter. I hope it was enjoyable. Please review! And Merry Christmas to everyone! **


	5. Chapter 4: Memory Concentration

**Disclaimer: Don't own nothing.  
**

* * *

Chapter 4: Memory Concentration

He wasn't sure where he was at first. He could only tell that it was dark and damp. Was he dead? No. he was still breathing. He could still feel. He opened and closed his eyes. He couldn't see much of anything, but he was definitely still alive. He decided to keep his eyes open, and waited, hoping that his eyes might adjust.

After a little while, to his relief, they did. He noted that he was in a cell, behind bars. Lovely. He had been captured by wolves and somehow locked in a dungeon. Could wolves have enough intelligence to do that? Or were they acting on someone's orders? He had no clue where in the world he was, and no way to contact Yami or Ryou for help. He didn't even think that Ryou had a way to contact Yami for help. He sighed, resigning to his capture. He was doomed, wasn't he? He closed his eyes again, and unknowingly drifted off to sleep.

_"Yuugi? Are you stuck in there?" His sister's voice floated to his cute little ears as he leaned on the door that stopped him going outside. He looked to be about four years old and he was scared. He was locked in the cupboard – again – but this time, his parents wouldn't be home for another day or so. He couldn't be stuck in here till then. He just couldn't! _

_ "Mai...get me out. Please," the little boy whimpered. _

_ "Yuugi... you can get out. I know you can. Remember what mother always tells you? That you're her little Light? Come on, Yuugi. Will the door to open. You can do it..." Yuugi shook his head._

_ "I don't know how!" _

_ "I'm sorry Yuugi but I can't break the lock spell father put on this. You have to do it."_

_ "But if you can't, how can I? You're older than me."_

_ "Age means nothing. You're special, Yuugi. You can do it. Trust me." Yuugi closed his eyes and searched inside of him for something. He wasn't quite sure what. He felt a warmth, then saw light. Suddenly, he was out of the cupboard! But, he met with a raging flame and a man with green eyes that licked his lips and jumped at him..._

He jump started awake and managed to knock his head on the wall. He rubbed his injury gingerly, with his dream still fresh in his mind. He had never had dreams about him being 4 or younger. Never. Was it only a dream? Or a memory? A strange desire to leave his cell fired through him as he stood up and walked up to the bars of his cell. He touched it and was amazed to see a spark when his fingers made contact with the metal. He looked down at his fingertips. It didn't seem like anything had changed. But, he knew better. Something was different. The dream had unlocked something inside of him. As he pondered on it, the silence was interrupted.

He froze when he heard breathing. He wasn't sure where it was coming from. Another cell? The one next to him perhaps? He didn't know. What he did know, was that he wanted out.

He focused on his memory. His dream, he supposed. Closing his eyes, Yuugi held his open palm out facing the door to his cell. He searched deep inside of himself. He was met with a strange force that said something that he couldn't decipher. But, instinctively, Yuugi nodded. The next thing he knew, was that as he opened his eyes, a bright light flashed and his cell door had slammed into the wall across from it. He stared at the mangled metal in shock. Did he just do that? He stepped out of his cell and looked up and down the dark dungeon corridor and shrugged. Maybe he did. He was about to walk away when he heard a surprised gasp and someone being muffled. His curiosity, once again, intrigued him, and even though he knew it would get him into some kind of trouble, he listened to it, searching out the sounds he had been hearing.

Literally, right next door to him were two males in their own dungeon cell. One was younger, looking to be about 12 or 13 years old, while the other looked like he could be 20. Brothers? Yuugi thought that perhaps they were. They looked a little bit alike, although the younger one had significantly more hair than the older one. Why were they here? Had they really done nothing and had just ended up as prisoners? Like him? He knocked gently on their cell bars.

The elder looked up at him with cold, piercing blue eyes. He looked angry, and frustrated but then again, Yuugi thought, who wouldn't be if they were being held behind bars against their will?

"Who are you and what do you want?" Yuugi wasn't sure how to respond. The younger looked up at him as well, his eyes filled with fear.

"Ya-yami? No... Seto, who is that?" The boy asked quietly. Yuugi slightly gasped in surprised at his mention of Yami. The older, Seto, hushed the younger.

"Mokuba, be quiet, he could be an enemy." Yuugi held up his hands to show that he meant no harm. Seto raised his eye brows at him, expecting some sort of explanation.

"I...I was saved by Yami and taken here. If you know him... I'll get you out of here." Mokuba sat up in amazement.

"You can do that?"

"There's no way in hell that someone as scrawny as you-" Seto ate his words as a light flashed from Yuugi palm and the bars that were blocking their escape were destroyed. He merely stared as the boy before him fell to his knees, breathing heavily. Yuugi wasn't sure what was happening. Was there a limit to how many times someone could blow the bars off of a dungeon cell? Apparently, there was. Mokuba put a hand on his shoulder.

"Are you alright?" Yuugi nodded, coughing. He wasn't actually sure if he was alright, but he hoped that he would be.

The three of them froze as growls and the sounds of paws against gravel floated to their ears from far down the hall. Seto and Mokuba looked down at Yuugi, unsure of if they should leave him or run. Yuugi made a shooing movement with his hand.

"Go. I'll be fine." _Actually, I'll probably die here but, leave anyway. _In all honesty, Yuugi didn't want anyone to be endangered, even if they were pirates. _Now, now, Yuugi, remember... Pirates aren't all that different from everyone else, right? Right._ Seto nodded, though Mokuba hesitated, but they both bolted down the hall as fast as they could. Yuugi collapsed onto his stomach, giving up on escaping. There was no way he was going to escape a group of angry, bloodthirsty wolves when he was completely drained of all energy.

As he wondered what his death would be like, he was shocked to find himself being lifted by a pair of strong hands and found himself face to face with angry cat-like ears and sharp teeth on a human face of a male.

"Where the hell are the Kaiba brothers, human?" he growled, a deep rumbling echoing in his chest. Yuugi stared dumbly. He couldn't speak. He didn't understand what was happening around him. He was surrounded by these people who all had cat-like eyes, sharp fingernails, and sharp, pointy teeth. Everything else about them looked human. Yet, this made no sense to him. He had heard _paws_ running along the floor. Not _human_ feet. The feral human shook him. "Where are they?!" Yuugi shook his head. He had no answer. _They left. That's all. _The strange person shoved him to the ground and gave him a kick to his stomach. Yuugi grunted from the sudden pain, and clutched his stomach. He really felt like summoning that awesome light power he had used before, but he wasn't really sure how to work it on...these people. "You'll pay. You'll answer to our _king_ for your crime, maggot." He was picked up roughly, and Yuugi found himself feeling more offended for being called a maggot than for the rough handling he was receiving. He sighed, remembering how he ended up in this situation in the first place.

_ I knew my curiosity was going to get me in trouble again._

* * *

The fight was winding down pretty quickly. Yami parried off another of Atem's attacks. The elder was getting frustrated with the lack of damage he and his servants had caused. They were actually losing and that made him angry. His younger brother's group was 4. His group was multiples of 4. How could those pathetic pirates keep up? He growled viciously, baring his sharp inhuman teeth. Yami smirked.

"Losing your touch, Atem?" Yami mocked as Atem just laughed cruelly.

"Sure. In your dreams!" He began to change, though, not into the wolf form that Yami was expecting. He grew larger, his arms and legs extended and his skin became scaly.

"YAMI!" A voice that he clearly recognized called. He turned to the direction that it came from, to see Seto and Mokuba running towards him.

"Kaiba!" Yami shouted in surprise but then fell back as a scaled tail slammed the floor, causing the room to shake. A roar erupted from the newly changed beasts toothed mouth, shaking the very core of the temple. Atem had changed into a dragon.

"No, fucking way!" Jounouchi shouted in anger, seeing Atem's black dragon form.  
"_Fall before me, humans!_" Atem cried out, spewing flames in multiple directions. Yami jumped into action immediately.

"Fall back! To the ship! The Kaiba brothers are out! Let's go!" He dodged the hot flames that were aimed in his direction, cut some wolves out of his way and bolted, quickly followed by the Kaiba brothers, Jou, Malik and Honda. The dragon roared but didn't bother giving chase.

An eagle flew down from the ceiling, striking at Malik who managed to duck out of the way without tripping.

"_Run while you can, __**Pirates!**_" The eagle shape shifter called to them mockingly as they continued to run.

"Dammit, I didn't know they had more than one form!" Honda shouted.

"They must be able to gain new forms if they are strong enough. It would make sense that only Atem would have the strongest form out of any of them," Yami shouted back in reply as they finally made it out of the temple and into the cavern. They were forced to come to a halt when a large feline appeared in their pathway. It had slick, black fur and bright yellow eyes. It roared and launched itself at Yami. He rolled out of the way as the others ran for the mouth of cavern.

"Yams'! Use the puzzle!" Jou called to him as Yami shook his head.

"It's not going to work!"

"Why the hell not?!" The blond shouted at him.

"Move it, mutt! Yami can handle himself!" Seto yelled pushing the man ahead of him. Yami couldn't help but smirk at Seto's endearing nickname for Jou, but focused on the situation at hand. He stood slowly, as the feline stared him down.

"Who are you?" he asked firmly.

"_One of the 3 commanding generals under King Atem's rule,_" a female voice said. Yami mentally made note of this information.

"I see. I hope you don't mind..." he began to walk towards the beast slowly before breaking into a run, startling the creature as it moved out of his way in surprise. "But I've gotta run!" He ran but was severely unnerved when it didn't chase him down. Did his brother simply allow them to escape?

The group made it out of the cavern and to their ship safely, somehow. Yami, running solely on adrenaline was shouting orders left and right. Men scrambled up and down the deck trying to get the ship into movement. His mind was reeling with questions. Why had his brother let them escape? Did he know something that Yami didn't? What was the whole purpose of capturing Seto and Mokuba in the first place?

Yami didn't relax until he was sure they were a decent distance away from the cavern. He watched it retreat into the distance and waited until he could only see it as a small dot, the size of his thumb. They were far enough that it would take forever for the wolves to get to them, although, he did worry about the eagle and Atem's new form, the dragon.

"Man, that was insanity," Honda commented after a little while, as Seto, Jou and Malik nodded in agreement. "How did you get out anyway, Kaiba?" Seto looked slightly uncomfortable. Yami raised an eyebrow to this.

"What? You mean you didn't do it on your own, Set?" Yami asked. The blue-eyed man sighed.

"No. Some kid who looked a lot like you pretty much blew off the cell bars with some kind of light magic. He helped us escape." An uncomfortable silence fell upon the five of them as confusion crossed the expressions of the others.

"That sounds...." Malik began nervously.

"A lot...like Yuugi. Just minus the magic." Jou finished, taking in Yami's expression. It was kind of twisted into a form of anger and confusion and fear.

"What do you mean he looked a lot like me, Set?" he asked dangerously. Seto shrugged.

"He had your hair. I couldn't really see any kind of color since it was dark down there. I don't know what happened to him, there were wolves coming when we left. I had a suspicion that he might be--"

"Yami! Yami, please let us up!" The King of Pirates felt his heart drop into his stomach at the sound of that voice. He ran over to the side of boat and looked down to see the Baroness, Anzu with Ryou in a small brown boat. He noticed that they didn't have Yuugi with them. Ryou was shaking and it was then that Yami realized something that bothered him terribly. _No._

"Get that boat up here, now! I want Ryou and Anzu on this boat in the next 3 minutes!" He shouted out to his crew members as they immediately helped the two of them onto the boat and tied up their boat as well. Ryou gave Yami a pleading looking.

"You have to go back. They.... they...." he started but was unable to finish due to his shaking.

"They kidnapped Yuugi," Anzu simply stated. "It happened late yesterday afternoon. We left early this morning and used a spell for speed boating to find you." The young woman looked away. "I'm sorry, Yami. We couldn't stop them."

Yami's hands were clenched into a tight fist. The puzzle on his neck shimmered lightly before silencing.

"Well, Yams, it's your call. What are we gonna do?" Jou asked him seriously. The pirate took a deep breath.

"Turn the ship around. We have to go get him." Jou nodded and ran off, calling orders to turn the ship back around. Malik was clearly concerned, placing a hand on Yami's shoulder.

"I'm not questioning your judgment, but is that one kid really worth all this trouble? I know you've been lu-"

"I don't think it's wise to leave an inhabitant of Sanctuary in the hands of Atem," Seto interrupted. Yami gave him a strange look.

"How did you know?"

"I watched him blow the bars of my cell off with light magic. That's how. Only someone from Sanctuary can do that, prince of light or not."

Ryou nodded in agreement. "Yes. Yuugi, is indeed from Sanctuary." Malik and Honda were exasperated.

"You knew he was from Sanctuary and didn't bother to mention anything, Ryou?" Malik cried rubbing his temple in frustration. Ryou mumbled an apology.

"Don't blame him. I knew it as well. Now, let's get back to that stupid cavern and get him out of there!" Yami shouted in a commanding tone as the ship, now heading back to the cavern sped forward.

* * *

Atem growled upon entering his chambers. He had captured the Kaiba brothers in hopes of getting some information about Sanctuary from them, but apparently they had none. He had even greater hopes that perhaps his own brother might accidentally bring someone he shouldn't – like someone from Sanctuary – so that he could take them from him. He had sent out some wolves to see if he left anyone with that stupid baroness but he didn't expect his brother to be that stupid. No one leaves a Prince of Light just sitting around in a castle. Especially when there were many dangerous people after him. It, sadly, was too much for him to hope for. He had revealed his greatest form plus information about his three commanding generals. _Ah well..._ he supposed. He'd just have to find another way to get the information he wanted.

He was surprised to see the third general, in the form of a small horse, observing a small boy, who sat silently, looking somewhat frightened, on the floor. His own eyes widened at the sight of the boy. He was a bit messy, but his hair looked very similar to his own, in his human form, and his skin was as pale as the gentle moonlight. He was absolutely gorgeous. And he wanted him. He wanted him for his own. The horse looked up, paused in its walkings and bows its head low.

"_Welcome back, my king._" Atem nodded in response as he approached. The boy locked eyes with his and Atem couldn't hold back his smile, showing some of his sharp teeth. The boy had the most alluring amethyst he'd ever seen...

"_My king, this child was the reason that Seto Kaiba and Mokuba Kaiba escaped. What will be his punishment?_" The horse asked as Atem moved closer to the boy, who crawled away a bit.

"Tell me, boy. What is your name?" he asked as gently as he could, disliking how the word 'boy' slid off his tongue. It was too harsh. He hoped the boy had a nicer name... something smooth.

"Yuugi..." he muttered and Atem grasped Yuugi's face in his cold hands.

"Yuugi. I like that name." Yuugi felt more afraid as time went on, disliking the gleam in Atem's eyes.

"_Ah, my king? This boy's punishment?_" the horse pushed. Atem chuckled.

"Always quick to make sure justice is served, aren't you, Hyaku?" The horse bowed again.

"_Always, my king._"

"Alright. Then, I have decided. Yuugi, your punishment for allowing my prisoners to escape... will be for you to become my mate." Yuugi stared at the tanned being before him, stunned into horror. Even the horse seemed to splutter at his statement.

"_B-but, my king! He is a criminal! He could hurt you! He-_"

"Silence!" Atem barked. "It is obvious that this boy is from Sanctuary! How else do you think he escaped and allowed the other two to escape as well?" Hyaku made no response and merely nodded. "How did he get into the dungeons anyway?"

"_The hunting wolves found him where you told them to search, your greatness._" Atem frowned. Really? So, his brother had been idiotic enough to leave a person from Sanctuary right in the line of fire? He couldn't help but laugh. His brother wouldn't get anywhere in life, would he?

"I see. Ah well, Yami's loss I suppose." At the mention of his brother, Yuugi managed to gain some of his courage back, and smacked away Atem's hand. He crawled away, but was stopped by the horse that looked down at him darkly. Atem's smirk widened into a grin. "Ahah! So, the little one has spark." He forcefully grabbed Yuugi face close to his own. "Don't worry, you will soon be mine," Atem whispered into Yuugi's ear, sending shivers down his spine. Then, the man moved back slightly, allowing his lips to hover over Yuugi's for a few moments. The boy was about to move back again but he was stopped once again.

Atem took this moment to capture Yuugi's lips in a forceful kiss.

Yuugi tried to fight back, anything to push the man kissing him away. To his dismay, he soon found himself on his back, being pressed to the ground, as Atem's strong form halted him from moving and resisting. He tried to keep his lips tightly together, even as Atem nibbled them slightly. However, the man seemed to know better and gripped one of Yuugi's ears and pulled on it, causing him to yell out in pain. He took that opportunity to force himself into Yuugi's mouth, silencing his cry of pain. Tears rimmed Yuugi's eyes. He didn't want this. He really didn't.

Atem pulled back after a few minutes that had seemed long and agonizing to Yuugi. He smiled widely and licked Yuugi's cheek. He embraced him in a hug, pulling the boy tightly to his body.

"You will be my mate, Yuugi. Even if you don't like it. However, it may be better if you don't. It is your punishment after all. Not to worry though, after a while, you'll begin to enjoy it. Quite a bit." Yuugi shivered again at the tone of his voice. Atem picked him up and carried him to his bed, resting him on the mattress. He gave the boy another quick kiss on the forehead, leaving Yuugi with a strange, drowsy feeling. He forced himself to stay awake as Atem moved away and transformed into some kind of animal. He wanted to gasp, shout in surprise or something, as a lion stood in Atem's place.

"_Rest for now, little one. I'll be back soon._" The lion turned to the horse as Yuugi laid in the bed, unable to move, a single thought racing through his head. _They're all shape shifters...they're all shape shifters!_

"_Let's go, Hyaku. I feel someone in our territory again. I wonder if it's some stupid pirates..._" They left the room, continuing their conversation, as Yuugi resigned himself to the sleep calling to him. He couldn't help but wonder if perhaps, Yami would come to save him.

* * *

**Sorry if it seemed a bit choppy. I'll have to fix that for next chapter. Please Review! Until next time~**


	6. Chapter 5: Triangle

**A/N's: Blah. Sorry this is a little late guys. I got really sick and my head is killing me. But I got a bunch of alerts from people who read this and I was like Ooh... Headache or not, I gotta update so... Here you go! I wasn't going to put notes orignally... But figured I should. They just aren't as detailed. Enjoy! Remember, every review brings in a smile! =)  
**

* * *

Chapter 5 : Triangle

_ "We're leaving tomorrow." _

_ Jou and Honda froze. Malik simply looked up at him in shock and was the only one to respond. Yami was tense with a determined expression permenantly pressed onto his face. _

_ "We're...what?"_

_ "I said that we're leaving tomorrow. I managed to get us a boat." _

_ Jou sat down on the couch next to Malik. He rubbed his forehead. _

_ "Where are we going?"_

_ "Anywhere that has hints about Sanctuary. We'll make one stop at a time." _

_ Malik spluttered. "Wait a minute, what? We're just going to search every single bloody country on the planet until we find hints?! Are you out of your mind, Yami? Besides, how are we going to get food? And can the four of us really run our own boat? How did you even get yourself a boat? And don't forget the fact that we're only bloody thirteen! Bloody hell, Yami!" _

_ Yami looked away, his hands clenched so tightly that his knucles were white. "I will bring Atem back home. I will." _

_ The others sighed. Honda pat him on the back. _

_ "Don't worry. We'll get him back, but first, let's think about this before we do something crazy. Alright?" (1)_

* * *

He flipped through the pages of the photo album, creepily smiling at the happy family that once was. His long, elegant silver hair covered one of his eyes and his red suit reflected off of the white walls of the living room, giving the place an eerie red glow. Pegasus was currently inside the home of late Motou family, who had been one of the many families to have perished in the inevitable attack of the Dark Pirates, Bakura and Marik. However, he was aware of one survivor. A single, Yuugi Motou, to be exact.

He knew quite a bit about the family. He had heard multiple rumors that went with them. He did some investigating and due to the Motou's constant clumsiness with their children in the outer world, after some deep digging, he discovered who they were. Inhabitants of Sanctuary. They had somehow escaped Dartz' taking over of the kingdom and fled to the outer world, where they remained in hiding. They tried to keep their children away from other children, perhaps in hopes of returning so soon, that their children wouldn't have time or energy to make bonds with anyone else. He smiled at the picture of Mai and Yuugi, standing close together holding hands while waving at the camera. Brother and Sister. So close that they could almost always detect where the other was, no matter what. He chuckled looking at the pictures specifically centering around Yuugi.

Pegasus was well aware that only Yuugi had survived the wreckage of his late cruise ship. He was also aware that the King of Pirates was interested in him, for whatever reasons, Pegasus had yet to find out. He knew that he and the boy's sister, Mai had met at one point but he did not know what had been discussed or why Yami was always sticking around after that and continued to for the next 3 years. Three years. Yami had been constantly visiting for three straight years without ever forcibly taking anything. The man found this strange, remembering the Yami before as being vengeful, finding anyway to beat his brother to Sanctuary and yet as the perfect opportunity arose to rub his brother's face into the ground, he instead waited. Why? Pegasus didn't have a clue. But, he did intend to find out soon enough.

Besides, he had a plan. He needed the adorable little Yuugi as well. Only someone from Sanctuary could open it's doors. Yuugi would be perfect for that little requirement. Then, he could steal the boy's birth given power and reign over Sanctuary himself. He waved his hair excitedly. Yes, it was the absolute perfect plan for one so glamorous as himself. He stood, dropping the photo album onto the couch he had been sitting on and strolled out of the home, being sure to lock it back, as he had found it. He returned the key to its hidden place under the mat and walked out to his carriage. Soon enough, Sanctuary would be within his grasp.

* * *

The boat sped back towards the cavern, the crew mates feeling nervous and anxious. They weren't perfectly clear on why one little kid was so important, but the King had demanded that they return from where they had just escaped, and so, they did. They were welcomed by the King of the shape shifters himself. Atem.

He jumped down from a tall rock, onto the solid ground around the cavern. He looked as though he was smirking in his lion form at the approaching boat. Yami didn't jump off or anything, nor did anything dramatic happen. It was just simply a stare down between the two of them: Two brothers at war. Their eyes were locked in a deathly glare. Atem was the one to break it by closing his eyes in a laugh.

"_So, what brings you back here to your doom, so soon, little brother?_" he asked. The eagle and feline, which was really a leopard, each stood on one side of Atem.

"Where is the boy from Sanctuary, Atem?" A growl escaped from the lion's mouth.

"_He's mine, Yami. You left him right out in the open. He was fair game!_"

"Bullshit! You sent your wolven scum scouts to hunt him down, didn't you?!" Yami yelled in reply, clenching his hands into fists. Atem relaxed slightly.

"_Actually, I sent them out to retrieve the Prince of Light. I was utterly surprised when they brought him back instead of the actual Prince of Light that wanders with you. However, I now have my own key, and you have yours. What's the big deal, Yami? Afraid that my key will be stronger than yours when I claim the power of Sanctuary?_"

"They are not pieces in a chess game, Atem! They are people, and not objects! You will return Yuugi to me at this instant or the gods who failed to defeat fate so help me, I will destroy myself, here and now!" (2)

Atem roared into the air accepting the challenge. "_Bring it on, baby brother! Yuugi will become my mate! And he will remain with me for the rest of ETERNITY!"_ The lion began to change and grow as the eagle flew into the air and the feline charged towards the ship that was now close to the lands surrounding the cavern. Atem roared, returning to his dragon form. His scales were pitch black. He spread out his wings and took to the air, his green eyes twinkling with anticipation for the fight.

"_Fight me now, pathetic pirates!_"

Jou and Honda ran about the ship calling orders as Seto hid Mokuba inside the boat where it was safe.

"Load up the canons! We have a dragon to take down, men! Move it!" Jou barked as men rushed to their weapons stations.

"Where are those archers! We need close rangers and far range shooters! We also need some flame! Come on guys! Get your butts in gear!" Honda shouted as some of the pirates retrieved their archery weapons. Yami also grabbed a bow and arrow.

"I might as well give these a shot. Alright, men! The battle's already started! Watch out for that eagle and somebody find that damn leopard! She can't be up to any good!"

"AYE AYE CAPTAIN!" The men shouted as the battle began.

* * *

Yuugi's eyes flickered open. He tried to move and panicked when he found that he couldn't. He froze when he heard footsteps approaching. A woman with short brown hair entered the room and closed the sliding door behind her. She noticed Yuugi and gave him a small smile.

"Ah, you're awake now." Yuugi's eyes widened in recognition of the voice.

"You're...that horse!" She nodded.

"Yes. I am Hyaku, the shape shifting general of 100 spells. I have a personal preference to transforming into a horse, but I can change into a dolphin, a hawk, a bear and many other things. I also know many spells, like this bonding spell that I am performing on you right now." (3) Yuugi shivered in fear.

"B-bonding spell?" Hyaku nodded.

"Yes. You will be Atem's mate." She gave him a pleasant smile. "You're so lucky. He's never taken such an interest in anyone before. He was always competing with that silly little brother of his. Those two have been at each other's throats for years, each trying to best the other." She shook her head. "I'll never understand men." She paused when she noticed that Yuugi had resumed trying to escape his restraints. He was completely tied down, having both of his wrists and ankles tied to the platform on the floor. "I wouldn't do that if I were you. I must complete this spell. You make it difficult on yourself when you struggle like that. Atem wouldn't like to have any marks on you."

"I don't care what Atem thinks, I need to get out of here." Yuugi told her, continuing to pull on the ropes holding him down. Hyaku's eyes darkened.

"I hope you realized that I cannot allow you to offend my master."

"Master or not, he shouldn't control everyone and everything like this. It just isn't... ah!.....fair!" Hyaku gave Yuugi a strange look before returning to her task at hand.

"You're a strange boy. You seem to change everyone around you. Yami and Atem were never this...affectionate towards anyone. Even myself, it seems... I am compelled to help you. "

"Then, why don't you?!" Yuugi cried, still trying to get out. Hyaku looked away.

"You are Atem's mate to be. I cannot go against his wishes."

"Yes, you can! I can help you, Hyaku, but only if you trust me!" The boy paused in his efforts to escape to lock eyes with the shape shifter. She saw nothing but innocence and truth in his words but she could not find the strength to believe him. She shook her head and began to mutter something as a bright circle appeared beneath Yuugi. The boy gasped in fear.

"No...stop!"

Hyaku shook her head. "Your fate is intertwined with Atem's now, little one. I am sorry." Yuugi closed his eyes tightly, feeling the magic around him closing in on his body as well as his soul, claiming him and giving him a status that he didn't want. He searched deep inside of himself and found the light that he had called earlier to his side.

"YOU CAN'T MAKE ME DO THIS!" Yuugi shouted, a bright light erupting from his small body. Hyaku was forced back by the brightness and the restraints on Yuugi's wrists and ankles melted away. Yuugi was tired when the light faded, but managed to find the strength to push himself onto his feet. He held the power in his fingertips, ready to use just in case. The shape shifter stood, now across the room in the corner, staring him down. She wiped blood from her mouth.

"I'm sorry. But, now you've become a problem, little one." She charged at him. Yuugi held up his palm and focused on getting her away from him.

"Blow her away!" he called out as the light magic surged through his body and out of his palm. Hyaku flew back into the corner that she been in, but this time, unconscious. The boy was panting when it was all over. He rubbed his wrists absentmindedly before deciding that he needed to get out of there before she woke up and forced him to be become Atem's mate. He opened the sliding door and was surprised to see that he was already above ground. He ran down one hallway until he come to large outdoor balcony atop some tall rocks that were on the lands surrounding a cavern. He gasped when he saw Yami's ship engaged in battle with a leopard, an eagle and an enormous black dragon. He cried out in surprise when two hands suddenly gripped his shoulders and looked up fearfully to see Hyaku staring out at the battle scene blankly.

"The eagle is Juu, the shape shifting general of 10 spells, and the leopard is Sen, the shape shifting general of 1000 spells," (4) she explained as lighting came down and struck the ocean somewhere, barely missing the ship. Yuugi watched worriedly as Jou and Honda fought off the leopard until she finally jumped off of the boat, but they followed her, still trying to keep her away. Hyaku continued. "The black dragon is our king, King Atem. He can take many forms but, his dragon form is the hardest to hold. He most likely will have to surrender in a little while."

Yuugi gave her a confused look. "Why are you telling me this?"

Hyaku shrugged and began to walk away. "A long time ago, we shape shifters wanted power so that we could protect ourselves in the open air, instead of hiding in this dark, dirty cavern. However, our king wants power to take over and control. This isn't what we originally wished." Then, she turned back to Yuugi and locked eyes with him. "You've made me see that. What we're doing is wrong." _I also learned something else about you that you don't know yet. _She wanted to tell him, but decided that he'd eventually learn. She turned away. "You have the power to save your friends. Use it wisely, little one. We will meet again." She left Yuugi, feeling confused and unsure of himself. Could he really take down a dragon? From his distance? There was no way he could move closer, seeing as the leopard would simply charge him and it'd be all over. He continued watching the battle and was shocked to noticed that Ryou was looking directly at him and also, walking on the land surrounding the cavern, avoiding the battle between the leopard, Sen, and Jou and Honda. Yuugi watched as the boy began to run and suddenly, he felt a strange tingle all over his body.

* * *

The arrow went _whoosh _as it zipped through the air, just barely missing the dragon that flew in the air above the ship. Yami was shooting arrows with each shot getting better by the minute from the bird's nest. Every other shot, he was giving the pyramid that hung from his neck a glare, trying to coax it into working for him. Yami readied and loosed another arrow. He managed to land a hit, only to have it bounce off of the dragon's scaly surface. He growled.

"_You don't honestly expect that pathetic little thing to do any damage do you?_" Atem mocked, gliding above the ship.

Yami glanced down at the pyramid again. "Dammit, you. You have to help me here. If you don't, then you're not doing the job you're supposed to be doing." He loosed another arrow, missing by a long shot. "You have a task and you know _exactly_ why I'm here fighting so, don't even think to question my intentions when we have a common goal at the moment."

"_Why do you bother fighting for a being that you only feel lust for, Yami?_" Yami was surprised by the seriousness of the tone Atem spoke with.

"Like you're any better!" he shouted back, not really having much else to say. He couldn't think of any other way to prove his brother wrong about his feelings about Yuugi. Yes, it was true that Yami did want him but, he had waited 3 years for him! Didn't that mean anything? Though, he also had another reason for wanting to keep the boy. However, should he reveal this reason, he knew that his brother would no doubt find any means possible to keep him away from Yuugi. But, of course, he didn't want Yuugi just for the power at hand to truly defeat his brother... did he? (5) Yami shook his head and focused on the fight with his brother, launching a few more arrows that also missed. He cursed at his lack of skill in archery.

"_Though it may surprise you, little brother, I am better. I do have feelings for Yuugi. He will become my mate and stay with me for all of eternity! We will rule Sanctuary together as equals!_"

"You don't know anything about him, Atem!" Yami shouted in anger. He knew more about him than anyone, besides the boy's sister. Atem seemed to chuckle.

"_There will always be time for us to learn about each other, but for now, I want you out of the picture!_"

Yami tightened his grip on the bow and arrow, prepared to loose another as Atem charged at him.

"Come on.... Help me.... help me help him and accomplish the task at hand..." Yami muttered, as the pyramid softly began to glow. He waited for a few moments, perfecting his aim, until he loosed the arrow. It soared through the air, embraced by the glow of the puzzle pyramid. Atem roared in pain as the arrow pierced through the scales on his nose.

"_YOU FOOL!_" Atem roared as he thrashed in the air, flying away from the ship.

"Head this, Atem!" Yami yelled, unsure if the dragon could hear him through all of his roaring. "I saw him first!" He stuck out his tongue childishly and stopped when he heard someone calling him.

"Yami! Yami, hurry up and get down here! Ryou's missing!" Malik yelled as Yami looked down in shock.

"What?!"

* * *

Yuugi helped Ryou climb up the last rock and made sure he didn't fall.

"Yuugi," Ryou began, in between breaths. He was breathing hard from the work it took to reach the boy. "Yuugi, I must give you something." There was a glint in Ryou's eyes that Yuugi found odd and slightly frightening.

"Ryou, are you alright?" Ryou shook his head. Instead, he placed a hand on Yuugi's forehead.

"Please, receive, and save Yami." Yuugi was about to respond when he cried out in pain. Ryou instantly took his hand back as Yuugi clutched his forehead. Images of white lights and an archery class raced through his mind and it burned like the flames of hell.

_"Yuugi, aim a little higher, stand straight, and now focus!"_

He rolled onto his back, biting back a scream of pain that threatened to escape.

"_Excellent! Now, let's try it this way."_

It was a few moments before the images finally stopped moving, and Yuugi lay on his back, drenched in sweat and breathing heavily. Ryou offered him a hand and helped him up.

"What are we going to do?" Ryou asked as though he knew what the answer was going to be. Yuugi pointed out towards the battle scene.

"We...we need to get closer to there." With a renewed strength, Yuugi loosed himself from Ryou's light hold and began to descend the steep, rocky wall. Ryou smiled and followed closely. They were near the boat when they finally stopped walking. Ryou stepped back giving Yuugi room to do what he must.

_"You must feel the power rising up in you... until it explodes! BAM! And there, before you, will sit your weapon of choice..."_

Yuugi took a deep breath and pulled on the light he felt inside. He began to glow, attracting the attention of the eagle, the leopard and the dragon. Juu and Sen paused in their tasks and simply watched the power gathering. They tensed once they had noticed just how much power the boy had. He strengthened the spell, calling forth a bow and arrow. They were silver in color. Yuugi readied the bow and arrow and aimed it up at Atem, his pupils lined with silver.

"_Fall back! He's gathered too much power!_" The leopard shouted to the eagle as both creatures ran off, fleeing the battle scene. Yami gasped from his position up on the bird's nest and Atem roared.

"_Yuugi, do not loose that arrow!_" The dragon shouted, but Yuugi could not hear him. He was engrossed in the voices of his past.

_"Pick your target, aim...and feel the wind moving through your fingers!"_

Yuugi let it go and the arrow flew straight and true, just grazing Atem's scales. However, it did the trick as evading the arrow cost the King of the Shape shifters his hold on his dragon form. He returned to his human form and toppled from the sky into the sea. There was a pause and suddenly, the light surrounding Yuugi disappeared and he collapsed to his knees in exhaustion. Ryou raced to his side.

"Yuugi, are you alright?" The boy nodded and then pointed towards the ship. There was a ladder on the side closest to them, that they would be able to use to get back up. Ryou nodded in understanding and began to help Yuugi towards the ship.

Yami descended from the bird's nest and watched his men gather themselves and observed the shape of the boat. It wasn't too bad. It wasn't nearly as much damage that had occurred during their fight with Bakura and Marik. Anzu approached him, a serious expression on her face. Yami looked surprised.

"You know who that child is, don't you?" she asked him accusingly. Yami made no response, and instead, only looked at her sympathetically. She looked away. "You know more about what's going on here more than anyone...don't you..."

"All I ask is that you mention none of this to the others," said Yami, before turning his back on her and wandering off to the ladder.

Ryou was about to help Yuugi up first, but he refused.

"You go on, I'll just slow you down." Ryou seemed confused but Yuugi simply shook his head and smiled. "I'll be fine. Don't worry. I have more of my energy back." Ryou nodded, but still warily watched as Yuugi began to climb the ladder after him. Yami smiled down at the two as they climbed.

"Prepare to head out, men! Our last few members are climbing up now!" Yami shouted.

Yuugi felt tired. His muscles and breath were about to give up on him and he knew it. He could feel it. Every move was more difficult than the last. His breathing slowly became labored and before he knew it, his sight began to spin. He shook his head and continued his climb. He let out a cry of pain as something grabbed his leg.

It was Atem.

"Yuugi, break through this spell that stupid man put on you! You belong to me!" he shouted, gripping Yuugi's ankle tightly. He tried to shake him off.

"Let me go! I don't belong to you!" Yuugi growled at him and looked up, seeing that Ryou had already reached the deck, calling out to him to continue climbing. He reached for the top of the ladder. He was almost there... Yami appeared and grabbed the hand that Yuugi was using to reach out to the top of the ladder.

"Atem! Release Yuugi, now!"

"NEVER!" Atem growled back and pulled back his lips. He opened his mouth wide before biting right into Yuugi's calf muscle. He screamed in pain, feeling the sharp teeth pierce his muscle but the teeth was quickly replaced by an intense burning feeling. Atem pulled away, Yuugi's blood dripping from his lips. He licked them like how a predator licks their lips near their prey. He released Yuugi's ankle as Yami pulled him up onto the ship.

"From now on, I will always know where my Yuugi is." Yami glared at him. "He will be mine, Yami. I'll make sure of that." And with that said, Atem let go of the ladder and fell back into the sea. Yuugi clutched his ankle, crying and writhing in pain. Ryou sat by his side, feeling helpless. Yami clenched his hands into fists.

"Someone find Malik, NOW!" he shouted at some unsuspecting crew members who rushed to the task immediately. Anzu managed to get a glance at the wound.

"You'll need to clean it, quickly. We need to know if Atem bit him to turn him, or did something else to him," she explained as Yami nodded.

"I don't think he turned him. He said that he'd always where Yuugi is... he probably attached some kind of tracking spell." Yami's brow creased with worry as Yuugi was muttering, 'it burns, it burns'. Ryou rubbed Yuugi's head.

"It'll be okay..." Ryou said quietly. Malik ran up to them and moved everyone out of the way. He pushed his hand against Yuugi's forehead, causing him to fall asleep. He picked him up and nodded his head towards Yami's cabin.

"Yami, Anzu, Ryou, come with me. We need to discuss something."

* * *

A man with green hair and two different coloured eyes laughed on a stolen throne. His followers around him watched his scrying pool. They could all see a boy. Whoever he was with, mattered not, because they had found who they were looking for. The man's yellow eye sparked with a dangerously calm pride while the green eye looked pleasantly surprised.

"So, my little pet has found the Prince of Light, hasn't he?" He continued to laugh before pointing at one of his followers. "Go and bring him to me. Do whatever you must. I don't care." The one he had pointed to bowed.

"Yes, Lord Dartz," the girl said before scurrying off. The others seemed surprise at their Lord's choice.

"My lord, are sure that Rebecca can handle this sort of mission?" one of them asked with a bowed head in respect for their leader as he spoke. Dartz shrugged.

"It matters not. I'll give her the chance to prove herself, otherwise, she'll die trying." The cruel man chuckled. "That's just how it is. She can _easily_ be replaced." The other followers, cringed at their lord's tone and remembered bitterly that were all really just pawns for someone with great power who just wanted even more power.

Unbeknownst to Dartz and his group, another man hide behind the poles, at a far corner in their room. His blue eyes changed back and forth from grey to blue, depending on his preference and the level of darkness around him. Feeling as though he had gathered enough information, he transformed into a small fox and scattered from the place, returning to his second home. To him, Sanctuary would be his only first home. For him and sister, that's all it was and he would do anything to make her see that it's where they belonged.

* * *

People scattered and tripped over themselves as the Dark Pirates raided their town, taking anything and everything they wanted. Marik ran his sword through a man's body, bored with how his blood dripped onto the blade and gathered in a pool on the ground. He sighed as Bakura wandered around trying to see if there was anything even worth taking from the people left. He found a man, hiding in a corner of his broken stall, trying to guard a box of some kind. It was no longer than half a man's arm and no wider than a normal human hand. Bakura smirked and shoved some things out of the way, announcing his approaching presence to the frightened man who clutched the box even more tightly than before.

"Now, what's that you've got there, Mister?" Bakura asked with an evil glint in his eye. The man clutching the box instantly let go of it, pushing it towards Bakura and began to beg for his life.

"Please! Just, just take it! I don't need it! Really! It's just a map to this island that was rumored to hold a great treasure from the legendary kingdom Sanctuary and-" Marik cut him off, approaching the both of them with a bored look on his face.

"Did someone say Sanctuary?" The man nodded quickly.

"Yes, yes! Sanctuary! That place that has lots of power! Yes! There's apparently treasure on an island that includes the map to the gates to Sanctuary and such. They...they say that uh, you could become rich if you find it! There's a map to that island in the box. You can take it! I'll just, you know, leave now." The man looked terribly hopeful as Bakura tried to smile and nodded.

"Sure," he said picking up the box and opening it. "You can leave now." The man stood, thanking them multiple times before running off. Bakura rummaged through the box, looking for the map. When he found it, he pulled it out, dropping the rest of the box onto the ground carelessly. He observed it carefully. "This island doesn't seem too far." Marik watched the man running off, licking his lips. Bakura sighed knowingly. "Yes, yes, you can go chase him down so that he can't tell anyone else about this treasure." The sandy-blonde pirate grinned evilly before stalking off in the direction that the man ran. Bakura rolled up the map and walked away from the destroyed stall, leaving the bow where he had dropped it, forgotten. Now, he could find Sanctuary before the ridiculous warring brothers and that feminine tyrant, Pegasus did and they wouldn't be able to have a say in it whatsoever.

* * *

Notes:

(1) - This memory is actually used to reflect Yami's personality before a specific event. What was that event? You'll find out eventually.

(2) - Yami makes a reference to "the god who failed to defeat fate". In this story, there are actually two "gods" that Pirates, in a way, sort of pray to. But it's nothing to the extreme. You'll see what I mean later on.

(3) - In case you're wondering why Hyaku is is the general of 100 spells, instead of another random number, it's because Hyaku is actually 100 in Japanese.

(4) - Here, Juu is 10 in Japanese and Sen is 1000.

(5) - Yami shows his confusion over his multiple feelings. It didn't help that he was thinking about this while fighting a dragon.

**And there you have it! More to come in Chapter 6! I hope this was enjoyable... Happy Writing everyone! Hopefully, I'll be better by next week!**


	7. Chapter 6: The Light Pirate

**A/N's: Chapter 7 won't be out for another two weeks due to my exam period. I have some heavy courses and tonnes of stuff to do, so after this it'll be two weeks! Then back to every week. Enjoy! No notes this chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything.  
**

* * *

Chapter 6 : The Light Pirate

Yuugi awoke but didn't quite open his eyes. He focused on his body. There was a strange burning sensation in his ankle and he wanted it to go away. He felt like it was slowly eating away at him, but it was slowly dimming down. As the pain subsided, so did the image of Atem in Yuugi's head. It was as if he had forcibly placed a part of him in Yuugi, allowing him to know when he was near. Yuugi found it severely irritating, as he had great difficulty getting the shape shifter out of his head. He slowly opened his eyes, and was surprised to see Yami sitting next to his bed. He seemed angry at something and said nothing as he noticed that Yuugi had woken. He reached behind him and offered him a tray of food, which Yuugi accepted gratefully. He ate quietly, after muttering a 'thank you'. There was an awkward silence in the room as Yuugi ate slowly. It was when Yuugi grabbed his ankle after feeling a stab of pain, did Yami seem to react. He gave him a concerned looked then sighed.

"I'm sorry, Yuugi," the pirate said, avoiding Yuugi's eyes. He had done so much wrong to the boy. He had wanted him and had waited for 3 years, but was it really all for lust like his brother said? Didn't he have any true feelings in his heart anymore? Seto had told him once that he would leave unless Yami could grab a hold of his emotions and give up on fighting revenge, and to instead, fight for justice. Before, he couldn't do that. In the early years of his war with his brother, he focused hard on training, and seeing what he could do to obtain a position that could equal that of his brother's. The king of something. That was all he needed. He trained hard until he became the King of Pirates driven by the desire to bring his brother back and to stop him from obtaining what he wanted. He was driven by the absolute need to win and lost compassion for the people around him.

However, that all changed when he first met Yuugi.

The boy had been unconscious at the time, ill from some kind sickness. His sister and him had been caught in a boat on sea and they just happened to be going by. Mai tried to fight them off, but sadly her brother got involved knocking him unconscious, then he mysteriously became ill. She begged for them to return to land but, he simply refused and...

"Huh?" Yuugi replied, unsure of the strange and sudden apology. Yami's eyes focused back to reality and he nodded.

"Yes. Because of me, Atem managed to attach some kind of spell to your leg. Malik doesn't know the full extent of it yet, but as of now, he knows that Atem will probably be able to find you no matter where you go." Yuugi seemed worried at this. Would the pirates ditch him somewhere so that they could avoid being tracked by their enemy? Somewhere, deep inside of him hoped not. "Also, you'll feel when he gets closer. There's a mark on your ankle that looks almost like 'LP'. You'll see when we let you walk again. When he's closer, the mark will burn. As for how much pain you'll be in when that happens, we have no idea." Yuugi nodded taking in all the info.

"Is there anyway to get rid of it?"

Yami shook his head. "As of now, nothing. Although, I think you'll be okay for now." Yami stood up. "Oh, before I leave, I'd like to ask you something, Yuugi." Yuugi bit his lip, slightly worried.

"What is it?"

"How would you like to join my crew? We could definitely use a new fighter and Jou and Honda would be thrilled to teach you," Yami asked and Yuugi felt the internal conflict rising up again. How could he choose? There was the old him that was slowly melting away yet still calling out to him with a strange voice. It sounded like a robot with dying batteries. Yuugi felt certain that that was not who he was, and went with the New Yuugi. He looked up, locked eyes with Yami and nodded, attempting to smile.

"Sure."

* * *

They returned to Anzu's place and stayed there for another week. The crew worked on cleaning up the ship, preparing for another long voyage. Anzu caught up on paper work and meetings about the town that she had missed due to the emergency mission to rescue Yuugi. Yuugi and Ryou spent their time playing with Jeffery and Elizabeth, who were, quite frankly, thrilled that they were back. Jou took them all shopping in the city for clothes every other day. It was one day though, that Yuugi was given an interesting nickname.

It was just him, Elizabeth and Jeffery. Ryou had gone to fetch them some lemonade. The two children had heard the horrifying tale of Yuugi's encounter with the shape shifters. If anything, they loved hearing him say it, and Yuugi couldn't help but chuckle every time they said that they wanted to hear the story again. Elizabeth huffed.

"I wish I could go out to see and have adventures like you do. You're so lucky that King Yami asked you to join his ship. He doesn't usually do that."

Jeffery nodded in agreement. "Yeah. That's true. Hey, could we see the bite mark? You said it left a weird symbol thing right?"

Yuugi nodded and shrugged, pulling up his left pant leg. The kids gawked at the mark. It had healed quickly but it had left a strange pattern around the bite mark. White lines outlined a four leaf clover and in the center was a strange symbol that looked like the letters 'LP'. Elizabeth rubbed her fingers over it.

"That's weird. I wonder what it does." Yuugi pushed his pant leg back down.

"I don't really know either. We're waiting to see if it does anything."

Elizabeth suddenly gasped, clapping her hands together. "We should call you the Light Pirate! The King's Light Pirate! Wow! That would work nicely, wouldn't it, Jeffery?"

Yuugi stood quickly, his face flushed with embarrassment. _The King's Light Pirate?_"Ah, now wait, I don't need a nick-"

"Yeah! It's awesome, Liz!" Jeffery shouted, interrupting Yuugi as they high fived each other. Ryou finally returned with some drinks.

"Oh, what's going on? Something wrong, Yuugi?"

"We gave him a nickname, Ryou!" Elizabeth seemed to jump up and down. "He's now Yuugi, the Light Pirate! The King's Light Pirate!" She winked as Ryou giggled. Yuugi was in absolute shock. The tri-coloured haired boy took a deep breath and then sighed.

"Just don't let Yami hear it, alright? He teases me enough already."

They all chuckled. "We won't, Yuugi," Jeffery promised.

About two days before they were going to leave for the open sea, Jou, Ryou, Malik and Yuugi took a carriage down to the town along the coast. It wasn't very big, but it tended to have things that would be interesting to a pirate. Hints about treasures, new discoveries, land to be explored and such.

"What were you guys doing before you found me anyway?" Yuugi asked at one point. The others sort of shrugged. Jou answered first.

"We were looking for the gates to Sanctuary. Since Ryou here is the Prince of Light, he can open the gates. Problem was though, we had no clue where we were goin'. For awhile, it's just been odd and random battles between Bakura, Marik and Pegasus. We hadn't seen Atem in years until just recently. Those two..." he sighed, rubbing his forehead. "Those two are out to kill each other, I swear. They're brothers yet it seems as though they've betrayed each other, one becoming what the other hates. Yami was running on merely his desire to get his brother back for years. But, suddenly, he stopped."

"He stopped?" Yuugi inquired, curious. "Why?"

Malik shrugged. "It doesn't matter. We were just glad that he wasn't so focused on his impossible task anymore. We still haven't made much progress on Sanctuary though. What doesn't make any sense to me, is if Yami's given up on Atem, why are we still looking for the stupid place?"

"Because if Atem gains the power of Sanctuary, I believe we would all be screwed and Yuugi would be his slave." Yuugi shuddered.

"Not funny, Jou." Everyone chuckled.

They arrived an hour so after. They stepped out of the carriage and wandered into the city, only to stop dead in their tracks.

The place had been completely destroyed with bodies littering the ground. The air had a thick scent of rotting flesh and blood. It was dirty and disgusting. Yuugi and Ryou stood frozen to their spots mortified at the scene. Malik and Jou immediately wandered off looking for survivors. After a few moments, the group moved through the town in a solemn silence in respect for the dead. Malik shook his head.

"No one was left alive," he said regretfully. The others nodded. After a while of searching the group considered returning home and informing Anzu of the massacre, when something caught Ryou's eye. It was an opened box in the middle of a mess of a broken stand. It was the symbol that was painted onto the lid of the box's surface that made his eyes widen in surprise.

"The symbol of Sanctuary!" Ryou cried as he ran towards it, moving the debris away and picking up the box. Yuugi followed him and stared at the strange box in wonder. He felt strangely attracted to it, as if it was something he had to see. Malik and Jou approached them and watched as Ryou opened the box and searched through it.

There was a compass, a knife, a broken clock, an odd looking key, and two papers. Yuugi pulled out the second paper that was stuck underneath everything and observed it.

"It's some kind of map." Ryou looked at the other paper and smiled.

"They are instructions to finding the gates to Sanctuary! It says... we must go to the island mapped out by the map and find the treasure there. When we find it, we will find a map to the gates of Sanctuary. Let's see... it also says a bunch of things. It says: '_The compass may lead your enemies astray, and even if you find where the lions play, only the knife can save you from the slay. Only a broken clock will give you the correct time, at which your lives may be saved._' Strange. I wonder what that means." The others shrugged.

"We should take the box and bring it to Yami. He'll want to see these. We should also remember to tell Anzu to give these people a proper burial. Come on, I don't like this place," said Malik as the others agreed with him, following him out of the town and they boarded their carriage again in silence.

When they returned to Anzu's castle, both Anzu and Yami were waiting for them. They frowned at the expression of the group.

"Did something happen?" The baroness asked.

"Everyone in the city had been slaughtered," Jou replied grimly. Yami flinched and Anzu's hands covered her mouth in horror. Ryou offered them the box.

"We did find this though. It has instructions for finding the gates to Sanctuary." Yami took the box from him and nodded.

"Alright. I see... Perhaps that is where we'll go next." He smirked. "We haven't gone a treasure hunting adventure in awhile, haven't we, Jou?"

Jounouchi chuckled. "It has been quite a bit."

"Well, Yami, you do whatever you have to do. I'm going to find some people to go and clean up the other town. I'll be back in a few hours." The others nodded at her dismissal.

* * *

Later on that night, Yuugi was out on his balcony, looking out at the ocean while sitting cross-legged in a chair. He rubbed his marked ankle absentmindedly, thinking deeply. What a hectic chaotic thing his life had become. He started off as just a boy with his sister and his family. He never had many friends.... if any. His parents had always been against him getting to know anyone. He was surprised that he hadn't felt more lost when they died. He thought about that again. Well, he was lost. When he had escaped the cruise ship, he running mainly trying to survive. He was on auto pilot, not really thinking about what would be the best course of action. He had wanted to find a way to live. Now, suddenly, he was a pirate, something he had thought he hated and despised and only a day from this moment, he would be embarking on his first official pirate hunting adventure.

He was also surprised at the fact that he could use light magic. He was from Sanctuary. He rubbed his forehead, trying to understand why he wasn't surprised. Shouldn't he be surprised? Was it the fact that his sister had always hinted at the fact that their family was more than it looked like that caused him to think that perhaps he had known that all along? Was there something else that he should know? He sighed and closed his eyes.

Yami was another thing entirely. The incredibly attractive pirate was a difficult one to figure out. He had turned his entire ship around and drove head first into terrible danger just to save him. Yuugi. He couldn't comprehend what kind of importance he could hold to Yami. He also couldn't help thinking that he had been happy Yami had come to rescue him.

Yami seemed to rescue him quite a bit. He had rescued him from the cruise ship, brought him to Anzu's castle when he was ill, saved him from Atem's clutches. He shuddered, remembering the feeling of Atem's hot but rough lips on his own. He touched them subconsciously. Was it wrong that perhaps for a moment, he had almost wished that it had been Yami? Maybe it was just his head reacting to the pressure of the situation at the time... That must've been it. Yami was attractive...yes, incredibly attractive but, Yuugi would not allow himself to fall into a trap. Yes, he had joined the King of the Pirates crew but that was only because he needed more information about going back home. Once he was back home, he could find some other family and figure things out from there. Then he would leave the pirates, leave Yami and-

"Panda, what are you still doing up?" A voice called from across his room and Yuugi froze when Yami's figure stepped out onto the balcony and into the moonlight. Then, Yuugi's face scrunched up in annoyance.

"I'm not a panda. Why do you always call me that?"

Yami chuckled. "Because, you, my little _Light Pirate_, are as cute as a bear. But, some bears around here aren't that cute looking. Through my years of traveling, I once encountered a panda bear. It was adorable, even if it nearly took my head off." The man seemed to laugh at the memory as Yuugi 'hmphed' and looked away, hiding his blush.

"Who told you about that nickname anyway?" Yuugi grumbled.

"You'd be surprised by how well I can hear things without you noticing my presence." There was a silence. "Yuugi, were you ever taught to fight?" Yami asked in a serious tone.

Yuugi shrugged. "Not really. My mother taught me archery, and I've always been pretty good at it. My father taught some basic things with the sword. Never really got to test my skills in a real fight though. Why?" Yami sighed watching the ocean as if he was reminiscing about something.

"You seemed to do quite well with that bow and arrow when we last faced Bakura and Marik. We may encounter them again when we go to this island. Therefore, you must learn to fight so that you can defend yourself."

Yuugi's expression showed how he was somewhat opposed to the suggestion. He didn't want to have hurt anyone. "What? But... I..." he also couldn't come up with a decent reason to not learn how to fight. He knew it was important. How could a pirate defend himself against other pirates? Learn to fight them off. He didn't really have any other choice in the matter. He sighed in defeat and nodded. "Alright. I guess so. But, who will teach me?"

Yami chuckled. "I will of course."

Yuugi looked horrified. "What? What about Jou? Or Honda? I thought that you said they wanted to teach me?"

Yami shook his head, still laughing at Yuugi's reaction. "They will be busy tending to the ship and the rest of the crew." He turned his back to the balcony. "I'll see you later on in the afternoon, tomorrow. I'll come and find you. Make sure you get some sleep tonight." And with those final sounding words he left, leaving Yuugi to dread the coming afternoon. He remained in his seat for a few more minutes until he sighed and stood up. He stretched, blushing as he remembered how beautifully the moon light had bounced off of Yami's form. He shook his head in an attempt to clear his thoughts.

"I need some sleep..." Yuugi muttered before wandering off to bed.

* * *

"Yuugi, you've done this before, haven't you, you little devil?!" Yami exclaimed in surprise, blocking another one of Yuugi's blows. Both were sweating from the exercise and had even assembled a small crowd, including Jou, Honda, Ryou, Malik, Elizabeth, Jeffery, and a few people from town. Yuugi thrust his sword forward with ease, forcing Yami back again.

"I guess you can say that. My father did teach me a lot with the sword," he blocked another one of Yami's attacks and maintained his position, "But I always had a soft spot for archery." Yami manged to push Yuugi back a little with his next swipe.

"I guess it's a good thing that you're a well rounded person then." He forced Yuugi back again. "However, this ends here!" He made a quick movement with his wrist and effectively surprised the younger boy as Yami whacked the weapon out of Yuugi's hand. In response, the boy kicked his foot upwards, knocking Yami's sword into the air as well. Both swords landed side by side as the two combatants stared each other off, breathing heavily. Yami smiled and soon the crowd broke into an applause that had started with one, and ended with many. They shook hands.

"I don't think I've ever tied with anyone in all my years of being a pirate, Yuugi. Good job." Yuugi blushed a little in embarrassment, and he looked away.

"Go, Yuugi! Yeah! The Light Pirate!" Elizabeth and Jeffery shouted. The nickname spread quickly.

"Yeah! The Light Pirate!" People in the crowd cheered. Yami chuckled.

"It looks like your new name is becoming widely known." Yuugi rubbed his forehead.

"Yeah, I guess so." They waved to the crowd one last time and Yuugi couldn't help but think that perhaps being known as the Light Pirate wouldn't be so bad after all.

Yami and Yuugi worked on a few stances and moves afterwards. Yami was surprised at how well Yuugi learned. He was able to master a few new skills and apply them after an hour or so of working hard on them. He was focused and well disciplined. Of course, Yuugi had to admit that the King of the Pirates was a good teacher.

The sun was beginning to set when they finally stopped. The young boy couldn't help but think that he really had enjoyed his time training with Yami and blushed every time the man gave him a compliment.

"Alright, Yuugi, I think we can call it a day. You can fight quite well when you have a weapon. We will need to work on your fighting skills without one though. It's almost as if you're as helpless as a kitten without something sharp and pointy at your disposal." Yami laughed at the comparison. Yuugi frowned.

"I am not a kitten. You better not use that as an excuse to give me another nickname. I believe I have enough as it is." Yami smirked. He moved closer to Yuugi, invading his personal space, wrapping an around his waist. Yuugi tensed and looked away blushing.

"I can think of quite a few nicknames for you, Panda bear. There's Kitten, Little One, Hikari..." he paused in his nicknaming as he reached up to turn Yuugi's face so that the boy was looking at him. They stared into each other's eyes. Yuugi felt his heart stop. "Aibou..." Yuugi wanted to move away but he was frozen in place by Yami's crimson eyes.

However, Yami was forced to let go of his Light Pirate since he screamed out in pain and dropped to his knees clutching his ankle. Yami kneeled down with concern showing in his eyes.

"Yuugi-"

"My ankle...it's burning!" Yuugi closed his eyes tightly, trying to shut out the pain. It sadly didn't work, as the burning intensified. He shook his head as someone called out to him. He wasn't sure who but he knew it wasn't Yami.

_Yuugi...my Yuugi. I'm coming for you..._The voice called out to him, told him to stay still and wait just a day or so more. As it spoke, the pain grew worse. _I'm getting closer to you, my little Sanctuarian. You will be __**mine**_**. **

"Yuugi! Can you hear me? Yuugi!" Yami's heart raced with fear. He knew there was something wrong with the ankle that Yuugi had been marked on but he needed to know what was happening. Suddenly, Yuugi's eyes came back into focus.

"It's...Atem is...coming," he managed to whisper out before falling unconscious into the sand of the beach.

* * *

He heard beautiful music. Was he dead yet? He opened his eyes to see wooden roof. Nope. He wasn't dead just yet. The music continued though. Instead of looking around to see where it came from, he relaxed back into a peaceful limbo where he could still hear the music but still feel asleep at the same time. He drifted back and forth from sleep and awareness. He noticed that the music continued for a long while before stopping and starting all over again. He really enjoyed it and his body felt very relaxed and at ease – probably the most relaxed he'd been since the incident with the cruise ship.

After a little while, he slowly opened his eyes and looked to his right to see Yami playing the violin. The man's eyes were closed in deep concentration as he moved his bow across the strings which produced a strange, calming and lovely sound. Yuugi sat up, trying to avoid alerting Yami to his sudden alertness, and listened. The song ended sooner than Yuugi liked as Yami opened his eyes.

"Ah, you're awake. How's your ankle?" There was an angered underlying tone that Yuugi found hard to ignore. Had he done something wrong? He was vaguely awake of a strange tickling sensation on his ankle.

"It feels funny," Yuugi replied and Yami nodded, placing the violin down. "I didn't know that you could play violin."

Yami shrugged. "I learned when I was younger. That violin is Malik's. He lets me use it sometimes when I need to be calmed. You had been thrashing in your sleep earlier and I wondered if it might help. I was quite happy when it did." Yuugi was unsure of just how happy the man had been, because he still sounded like someone had hit stolen his treasure and refused to return it. Yami noticed the boy's curious and unsure look and sighed. "I apologize. We figured out exactly what that mark on your ankle does...and I was none too happy about it."

Yuugi shivered, remembering the pain he had felt. "What does it do?" he asked quietly.

"It's a tracking device. However, it causes the victim who is being tracked intense pain when the tracker is trying to find your location when they are close enough to do so. The closer they are, the greater the pain. It helps the tracker by immobilizing their prey when the hunter is close by. Atem was too close for us to stay. So, we left last night, as opposed to this morning." Yuugi looked away, feeling guilty for causing trouble. Yami gently turned Yuugi to face him again. "Don't look so sad. It's alright. The others were actually restless and raring to go." He chuckled. "They didn't want to wait to leave any longer." There was a short silence. "Yuugi, would you like to return home? To Sanctuary?"

Yuugi stared at the pirate. That was what he had wanted. When he got there? He had no clue what he was going to do. "That is my first idea, yes. I would like to see if I could possibly...find some other family members...hopefully." He looked away. Yami sighed.

"Alright. Then, we'll take you there. I'm sure you're aware of it by now, but we've been trying to find Sanctuary for a long time. I'm sure that with you here we'll be able to find it soon enough."

Yuugi bit his lip. "You're not going to use me... to find Sanctuary just to steal its power and defeat your brother...are you?" He looked back and caught Yami's eyes which widened with surprise. "Because, for some reason... I feel as though if you do that to me... It'll hurt." Yuugi surprised himself when his eyes filled with tears. He could imagine the pain he would feel at finally being welcomed home, only to have it ruined by Yami taking over. He wasn't sure why it bothered him so much, but it did.

"No, Yuugi. I will not. I will never-" He shook his head, changing his words. "We wish to help you get back home. Then, we will do whatever we can to stop others from taking it, like my brother. My war with my brother...will not end with me taking the power to beat him... I swear to you, Yuugi, it will end with him giving up trying to reach Sanctuary at its core. Do you understand?" Yami said this all with complete and utter frightening seriousness. Yuugi nodded in response, tears still in his eyes and embraced comfort as Yami hugged him. "Don't worry about it, Hikari, everything will be okay." Yuugi frowned.

"Hikari? You're calling me that now? What the heck does that mean?" Yami smirked.

"It means 'Light', silly panda."

Yuugi groaned.

* * *

He ran through the caverns of the temple, knowing it inside and out and hating himself for knowing so. He couldn't stand the temple of the shape shifters and he blamed himself for allowing his sister to join their stupid quest for power. He found his way into the fancy rooms and located his sister, sleeping on her bed, in her human form. She seemed so peaceful with her short hair and soft skin. The fox lightly licked her nose. She sneezed and awoke slowly, but not quickly enough for the fox.

"_Hyaku, wake up! We need to leave now! We must locate the Princeling!_" The girl shoved the fox away, pushing him off of the bed. He fell to the floor, squealing on his way down.

"Five more minutes... Oku.... Go away... Too...bright.." She took one of her pillows and covered her face with it. Oku growled and hissed. He jumped up, clawed into the mattress and pulled himself back up. He glowed slightly, changing into a monkey. He screeched, startling the girl into alertness and pulled the pillow away, tossing it across the room. She groaned at the beast.

"Oku! That's mean, big brother!" The monkey changed back into a fox.

"_You weren't waking up. Now, hurry and get dressed. Forget any orders you've received from that stupid whelp king. Let's get out of here. We must find the Prince._" Hyaku sighed and moved to get ready. She decided to bring up what she knew later.

"You don't know where to look, Oku."

"_We can ask around._" Hyaku shrugged.

"Like that'll help much..."

* * *

A few days had passed and the King of Pirates was heading straight for the island shown on the map. They were only a few more hours away, already seeing the island in sight. He watched from the front of the boat, leaning on the railings. Yuugi and Ryou watched with bright smiles on their faces as the island came closer and closer with each passing minute.

Yuugi felt incredibly excited. His first few days back on the ship had been terrible. He had been haunted by nightmares of Atem kidnapping him, eating him, licking him, _touching _him, and multiple things that had allowed him to wake up screaming bloody murder, only to be calmed by Yami's soothing voice. His ankle had also been bothering him, making the others think that he should never be walking anywhere alone, in case another round of burning came. It had occurred a few times over the past few days, but it had never gotten as bad as when they had been at Anzu's castle, which Yuugi was grateful for. He didn't want to suffer that pain again. Never again.

The island seemed beautiful from where they were standing. It almost seemed like a tropical vacation. There were tall trees that reached up to the clear blue skies and swayed in the warm breeze. Yuugi began to hum a tune his mother had taught him. It reminded him of the mountains his parents had taken him to see a long time ago. It the most the beautiful sight he had seen. The sun was setting at the time, casting a dark shadow down some sides of the mountain, but it also illuminated the colored limestone bits of it. The mountain had stopped at the clouds and birds flew, returning to their nesting sights for their evening rest. The sight of the island reminded Yuugi of all of that. The smaller mountains on this island were green, probably covered by grass and moss and other organic matter that had grown on there. There was a small beach, as far as they could see. There were a few birds that flew around the island. It didn't really look all that desolate. If anything, it could've passed for a pit stop for passing ships.

"Everyone, prepare to-" Yami's orders were cut off by the sound of a horn.

"What was that?" Yuugi asked as everyone began to search the sea for something. "What's going on?"

"Another pirate ship is heading towards us." Ryou answered for Yuugi as he pointed towards another ship. It had a black flag and it seemed to rushing towards them at a very fast pace. Yami recognized the ship and immediately sprung into action.

"All hands to battle stations! It seems as though Bakura and Marik are back to be defeated once again." He turned to Yuugi and smiled. "Watch this battle from somewhere safe with Ryou, and learn a little something about fighting a battle against other pirates." Yuugi nodded reluctantly, as he and Ryou went into Yami's cabin, the Captain's cabin and watched from the window in there. Yami took a deep breath and placed a hand on the puzzle. It radiated softly with a gentle light.

"I'm doing this for _him_. I hope you realize that. If you do, help _me _win this fight." It tinkled and Yami felt as though that perhaps it would actually help him this time. He withdrew his sword. "Be ready men!"

It didn't take long for the ship to reach Yami's and Bakura and Marik's evil smirks greeted him. He scowled at them.

"Well, well, if it isn't the King of the Pirates himself! I wonder what he's doing here, Bakura?" Marik said all the while smiling as he withdrew his sword. Jou and Honda raced to Yami's side, weapons already out and ready to go.

"Marik! What the hell are you doing here?" Jou shouted.

"We should be asking you the same question. We didn't think that you'd be showing your sorry selves here," Bakura sneered.

"Actually, I _do_ have a question for the both of you," Malik said, approaching them from behind. Marik chuckled.

"Oh look, it's the pretty kitty!" he mocked. Malik ignored him.

"There was a town not far from here that had been completely slaughtered. Not a single man left alive. You didn't have anything to do with that, now did you? It would seem to be the most logical reason for that." Bakura seemed slightly put off but barely showed it.

"That would depend. Why are you here anyway?"

"Why the hell would we tell you?" Honda replied. Marik and Bakura gave each other a sideways glance until they both shrugged, figuring that they were there for the exact same reason as them.

"Let me guess," Marik began, "You're here because you found a box somewhere in this town filled with dead people and there was a _second_ map inside of it leading to this island which is said to hold treasure that could lead you to Sanctuary?" The others gasped as Bakura sighed. He _knew _he should've destroyed the box and everything in it but no, he just had to _carelessly_ drop it onto the ground where the King's _pathetic_ and weak little mongrels had gone and found it. Now, here they were with competition on theirs hands. Just perfect. _Just bloody perfect_.

"How the hell did you know?" Jou shouted as Malik shot them a daring glare.

"That's because they were the ones who destroyed the town. But what did you mean about a second map?" He asked.

Marik pulled out the map that Bakura had found in the box. "We found this. However, we were unaware of a second map inside of that box." Bakura withdrew his own weapon.

"It doesn't matter now. We'll just defeat you here and claim that treasure as ours for the taking! _King _Yami, your little boat trip ends here!"

Pirates from both ships clashed in mid air, as the opposing boats had moved close enough together for them to jump ships. Bakura and Marik charged at Yami and his lap dogs, as they called them, and the battle began.

Yuugi felt nervous watching the fight from inside of the cabin. Ryou watched sadly, knowing that he could do absolutely nothing. Only Yuugi could do it. Only Yuugi. The boy fidgeted and eventually began to pull at his hair in frustration.

"I can't just sit here! I have to do something about this fight! I can't just hide in here watching like a safe little duckling while the others are out there risking their lives!" Ryou gave him a strange look. "Ah...what is it?"

"It's strange to see how well you've adapted to this situation. You used to hate being on this ship. In fact, it was just a little more than three weeks ago that we had first encountered Bakura and Marik." Yuugi nodded in reply. It was true. Just three weeks ago, his entire family had been killed. And whose fault was that? Yuugi clenched his hands into fists.

"I'm going out there. Now." He walked over to the wall where Yami hung a variety of weapons. He already had the sword that Yami gave him sitting on his waist, in its sheath but he grabbed the bow and arrows off of the wall and headed towards the door. Ryou grabbed his arm.

"Here... this is for you." He pressed his hand to Yuugi's forehead.

_"Happy Birthday, Yuugi!" His sister, Mai, shouted. An eight year old Yuugi sat in his chair, really excited._

_ "Thank you, big sister!" She smiled down at her brother, completely absorbed by his cuteness. _

_ "You're so adorable you! You little cuddly bear!" She hugged her brother and laughed along with him. Their parents smiled and gave Yuugi a small box. _

_ "Here you go, Yuugi. It's a magic charm that will protect you from harm while you're young. It'll wear off in a few a years, but we'll get you another one when you turn eighteen." The boy jumped up in joy._

_ "Eighteen! That's...that's....." he began to count on his fingers. "Ten years from now!" he exclaimed, excited that he could count. His parents laughed. _

_ "Yes, ten years." His father answered. His mother giggled but then, looked away sadly. _

_ "Ten years...until this all comes to an end." Yuugi didn't understand what she meant but ignored it, figuring that it was just something he didn't need to know. His birthday continued as his sister gave him gift after gift. He smiled until he was a little worried that his face would freeze up like that forever more._

Yuugi was on his knees when he returned to the present. He shook his head and tried to gain some control over his emotions. He felt strange. Perhaps less stressed. The random memories that kept appearing out of no where made him feel better about things. He wasn't sure why. He wasn't even sure how he kept receiving these memories. It was when he looked up at Ryou, he gasped.

"R-ryou?! How did you... How did you do that?!" Yuugi exclaimed grabbing Ryou by the shoulders. The white haired boy looked away.

"It's a long story... but please... go fight! Help Yami!" he said boldly. Yuugi nodded and raced out the door into the maddening chaos.

Pirates were engaged in battle all over the place. There were some on Yami's boat, a bunch on Bakura's. Yuugi decided that maybe, shooting arrows from atop the Captain's Cabin would work. It would take the other pirates awhile to reach him and it wouldn't be as risky as trying to climb up into the bird's nest. He climbed up and took a deep breath. He readied an arrow and began to shoot. One enemy pirate fell off the boat in an attempt to dodge one of Yuugi's arrows. There were shouts of anger and pain.

Yami looked up from his intense battle with Bakura in shock to see Yuugi fighting his own battles. Bakura licked his lips.

"It looks like the brat is fighting again." He noticed that Yami was too distracted to hear him.

"Yuugi, behind you!" Yami shouted and growled when Bakura pushed him over. He fell onto his back but quickly rolled and bounced onto his feet again, giving chase to the Dark Pirate. Yuugi heard Yami's cry and withdrew his sword quickly, finding himself caught in a sword fight with an enemy pirate. The pirate swung ruthlessly, but Yuugi dodged, allowing the swing to take away from the pirate limited reserve of energy. He bared his teeth at the boy, who kept his cool and began to go onto the offensive, each swipe, pushing the pirate back a step. He fell over the side of the cabin with a cry of surprise and fell into a pile of wood. He smirked at his work and was about to return to his archery when someone grabbed him from behind.

"Long time no see, brat." Yuugi gasped in fear when he heard Bakura's voice. "You know, we never did finish our conversation the last time, now did we?" Yuugi didn't bother wasting any time. He gripped the hilt of the sword but forced it back right into Bakura's groin. He shouted out in pain and immediately let him go. Yami appeared and shoved him over the side of the cabin.

"I'LL KILL YOU, YOU LITTLE PRICK!" he screamed as he fell over the edge in pain. Yami smirked.

"That will show him." Yuugi quickly returned to his work but found that he only had eight more arrows left. He bit lip, thinking. _I wonder if...._He shrugged, and decided to try his idea out anyway. He called up the light inside of him and summoned it to his fingertips, then transferred it to his arrow.

"Yuugi, what are you-" Yami never got to finish his question as the arrow that Yuugi had readied into the bow sparkled before emitting a powerful bright light. The wind picked up as Yami blocked his eyes from the brightness. The battle froze as everyone found themselves bringing up an arm to protect their eyes from the intense light. Yuugi loosed it, and aimed towards Bakura's boat, it hit the side of it and exploded on contact. Men scrambled away from the explosion in fear and after a few moments, every pirate from Bakura's boat was rushing back. Bakura scowled.

"You fools! That was only a fluke! He can't do it again-"

"Bakura, you idiot, he's aiming the next one at you!" Marik shouted in anger. The white haired pirate looked straight towards Yuugi and glared. The young boy had already readied another arrow and it began to glow brighter with each passing amount, accumulating energy and power up to the same point as the last arrow. He looked away in anger.

"Retreat!" He shouted and his men seemed more than happy to comply. Yuugi waited until their ship had moved a small distance away and launched the now bright arrow into the ocean near the boat, causing a tower of water to fall onto their deck. The men shouted in fear and terror and anger. Bakura looked about ready to tear someone to shreds. Marik didn't look any happier.

"Just wait, you brat! You'd better hope that we don't meet up with you on that island. Otherwise, you'll probably be discovered in multiple pieces with some of them missing!" Bakura shouted and proceeded to let loose a string of curses. Yami watched while breathing heavily as their boat moved away, they sailed to the dock. He gave Yuugi a pat on the back. Jou jumped up and gave him a crushing hug and a high five.

"Nice job, little buddy!" Honda and Malik came up as well and Ryou ran out of the cabin.

"Yuugi, you did it!" Ryou shouted.

Honda rubbed his head, laughing at Yuugi's irritated expression. "Good goin' man! I didn't know you had it in you!" Jou caught the boy in a head lock.

"Congrats on survivin' your first pirate fight, Yug'!" _Yug'?_thought but thanked everyone for their compliments anyway.

An hour or so later, they arrived at a safe place to anchor the ship and embark on their adventure through the island. Yuugi was tired out from the fight but still excited to explore the island. He ran out to the island full of energy and excitement. No one would've ever guessed that he had just fought off a bunch of angry pirates that had wanted to kill him just a few hours ago. Ryou joined him in his excitement as they began to skip. Malik glanced at Yami.

"Should the Prince really be out here? It's dangerous. Bakura and Marik aren't really that far off. They aren't going to give up on this mission just because they lost to us." Yami nodded.

"I know. But, Ryou should be fine." Malik stopped in his tracks.

"Do you even really believe he's the Prince of Sanctuary? I don't think that if you did, you'd be acting this way."

Yami sighed. "Yes, I believe he is but I also think that he can take care of himself without us to baby him all the time. Besides, he and Yuugi are having fun. Let them be." They continued up the beach, only Yuugi, Ryou, Malik, Yami, Jou and Honda, and went into the forest, instructing the others to watch the ship until they returned. They went into the forest and stopped once they found a clearing.

"Alright. Jou, Honda, set up camp here. The sun is going to set soon." They nodded. "Seeing as we're here, might as well explain what our next course of action will be." Yami pulled out some papers and Yuugi excitedly watched as he laid them out one by one. His adventure as a pirate had already begun.

* * *

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